Tomorrow's games: WE League Inac vs Regina 18:00 Nadeshiko League Nagoya vs Sfida 13:00 Shizuoka vs Nittaidai 14:00
Looks like first order of the day for Young Nadeshiko is to tire the Falconets, unfortunatelly chasing the ball will possibly frustrate Nigeria players a lot... ... well read cross by Matsunaga
BANG! Matsunaga with the run to reach the long ball at the far post, goalkeeper's in no man's land, and it's 1-0. edit: Personally, I dubbed that goal as the Cantona run.
Yeah, but I don't like the way we are letting Nigeria back in the game. We should be going after the backbreaker before halftime.
Nigeria is clearly better side than Ghana, they apply the same tactics of defensive agressiveness and pressure on Japan, but they also have midfielders who are capable of distributing the ball to the wings. Tough opponent.
True, but on the other hand Falconets were pushing for the last 5-6mins which is always desired... unless one have done it without any rest intervals earlier (and prior Japan forced them to chase the ball for half an hour) I expect quite a number of some very tired muscles in white shirts past an hour mark.
Heather O'Reilly take on Japan after group phase (from FIFA technical centre) Japan In possession Japan are a very technical team with players that can play the ball with a high degree of accuracy and at great speed. Positionally, their players are versatile, showing they can rotate and interchange with ease, whether they start the game or enter as substitutes. They love to build their play centrally using inverted wide defenders and more traditional wide-channel play. They play with minimum touches of the ball, meaning it can be difficult for opposition teams to get direct pressure on their possession and they are clever at anticipating where the space will become available and accessing it. Out of possession Because Japan play so close together when in the opposition’s final third, they can be effective at applying counter-pressure when they lose the ball high up the pitch. Because they tend to be narrow in their attacking play, at times they can be vulnerable to wide area counter-attacks. Well... its pretty much what we have seen... when Japan is in possession Nigeria pressing yields little results because of minimum touches of the ball made by Japan players. When Japan is out of possesion its counter-pressure works quite well especially in central areas so Nigeria is forced to play wide (crosses from its own right side to left flank or through balls on the right wing)
Rain is getting heavier... not good. Japan already had one less day to rest than Nigeria and again will have one day less to rest than Spain waiting in QF.
nice try by Amano, Hijikata is also hunting for another while Sasai needs to be bit more selfish inside the box
You shouldn't let opponent drive the ball 50 meters into the box, having 3-4 defenders around her... If you know you won't catch her, foul. It's part of the game.
Textbook error, Japan players make themselves believe the match is already won before the final whistle..
That's the part I often hate about Japanese football. Just drag the other guy/gal down when you have to defend the lead. Taking a yellow for the team is great. F*** fair-play for once! Situational awareness!!!
Congrats! Top 8 of the tournament, top 8 in the world. It's where Japanese women's football belongs. Now let's see if Young Nadeshiko bring some bonuses...
Congrats Japan !!! QF awaits !!! 5 matches at WWC is a must for a team of Japan stature - job well done Young Nadeshiko. From now on everything above it is just a bonus. It's gonna be tactical chess against Spain...
Although this kind of paradoxical scenes are by now commonplace in Hollywood movies and I am aware that they are just intended to awe the viewer through an obvious and comical denial of expectation with no intent of realism whatsoever, I feel like their exaggerations are too much cliché by some decades already, by now. The fact that any ship would actually hit the dock underwater well before Jack Sparrow could jump on it is irritating. Anyway, what's the rain situation right now in Poland? Of course, I am also happy that Japan reached the quarters, although Spain will be tough. We already lost to that same team at U-17 level, and back then we were having Tanikawa on the pitch and scoring! Anyway, I now have to go to work, but when I am back I'll happily watch the highlights of the Nigeria game.