As I said the heat is much milder in autumn in Perth. I do not know why they were playing at 1 in the afternoon in March. The only sports played in March in the afternoon in Perth are cricket and golf. But playing in the evening is lovely. I hope the rest of their games are in the evening.
It should be nice at that time. I know what you mean. She is fun to watch and does do some very good things, but there is something missing. I am very much in the minority here but I think the phrase that best describes her is "she flatters to deceive". I think she is a good player, but I hope she starts to fulfill her potential in the near future. Hopefully regular playing time at Spurs will help.
Agreed. Let's not forget she is still only 21.. I've watched her play brilliantly for Chelsea (and score a couple of very nice goals for them as well). And she is popular with the fans and her teammates. It's just that the club is loaded with talent at the moment and she got overshadowed by the high-priced box-office players they were bringing in. Well, she has a contract until 2029, so there is time for her to come back after her loan to Spurs. But I also agree that for the national team she sometimes seems to go 'missing' in games..
Coach Nils Nielsen It was a one-sided game, and our opponent was a tough team, as expected. However, our players remained focused until the end, even when there was little space, and continued to create chances. Getting three points in our first match was crucial, so I'm pleased with the result. On the other hand, I think we needed to be a little more direct in our approach to goal and move faster, such as by making runs deeper and getting into crosses. At halftime, I told the players, "We have time, so let's get a goal first," and we discussed incorporating different moves to break down the opponent. In the second half, we saw more incursions into the penalty box and more teamwork, and the substitutes also showed fresh moves and ideas. MF #14 HASEGAWA Yui (Manchester City/England) We struggled with the opponent's style of play, especially in the first half, but I'm glad we stuck to our guns and finished with a solid win. They formed a lower-level block than we expected, so I felt like they'd score eventually, but the goal was far away, and our impatience clouded our judgment at times. However, our perseverance created space in the opponent's block, which led to more chances in the second half. In matches like this, playing with the same lineup inevitably reduces our dynamic play, but the substitutes added some great energy. We'll continue to face tough challenges, so we'll work even harder to break down opponents who play defensively and aim for the championship. MF #19 TANIKAWA Momoko (Bayern Munich/Germany) In the scoring scene, Takahashi Hana was in good position with the ball and facing forward, making it easy for her to take action. I was glad that I was able to score while being mindful of avoiding offside. The opponent played a lower line than expected, so I focused on creating space and forcing them to drop their line. I think the key to our victory was our ability to challenge their tenacious defense until the end. Against a defensive opponent, we'll first focus on long shots, and then improve the quality of our play so that we can break through with combinations. Each player will continue to prepare well so that we can finish the season with a victory. FW #11 TANAKA Minami (Utah Royals/USA) I expected the opponent to tighten their defense, but I was a little surprised that they didn't press and instead stayed completely relaxed. However, we weren't impatient and tried various things in the first half, thinking about how to break down the opponent. I wanted to have more players in the middle when crossing the ball, but moving the ball around created distance between players, making it difficult to have more players in front of the goal, which is an issue. Personally, I tried to avoid reducing the number of targets in the middle by being more creative with my positioning and not missing any opportunities through strategic play. The next game could play out similarly, so I want to increase my moves that lead directly to the goal from the first half and make sure I don't miss any chances to get behind the defense once we have the ball.
My game for Asian Cup: Asian Cup India vs Japan 1 Predict exact score (100pts) 2 Japanese scorers (3, 10pts, perfect 3, 50pts, nobody, 300pts) 3 at least two goals scorer (1, 50pts, nobody, 50pts) 4 at least three goals scorer (1, 100pts, nobody, 10pts)
I hope India will be a very different match from Chinese Taipei; I remember when, two seasons ago, Urawa demolished the Indian chmapions of Odisha by 17-0 (!). On the other hand, they only lost by 2-1 to Vietnam and those of you, guys, who have watched the game, seemed to believe that they hadn't defended so badly... Anyway, I'll go out on a limb and try again to predict a large victory (if I fail again, I won't make the same mistake vs Vietnam ): 1. 7-0 2. Yui Hasegawa, Remina Chiba, Maika Hamano 3. Aoba Fujino 4. Momoko Tanikawa
1 5:0 Japan 2 Tanikawa, Chiba, Seike 3 Tanikawa (Nielsen, don't dare to sub her out again before she scores her second) 4 Nobody
Why so pessimistic, bliss? Have some hope for our girls! 1. 0-8 2. Tanikawa, Tanaka, Seike 3. Tanaka 4. Nobody
...third! (I wanted to strikethrough @Lohmann's text, instead of putting it in bold: someone remind me of how you do that! Oh, come on: don't spoil our fun! You even predicted a goal of hers yourself! Hey, I hadn't read that the game is listed as India-Japan! Of course I meant a 7-0 win for Japan, not for India, so actually a 0-7! I assume @Lohmann similarly doesn't mean 5-0 for India, does he?
March 6th press conference: Nils Nielsen, Coach Three points are more important than the number of goals scored in this tournament. Considering the six consecutive matches, how we recover from fatigue will be key. Japan has one of the deepest players pool in this tournament, and I believe they are capable of doing just that. We played well in our first match, so we're focused on staying focused and continuing to build on the positive aspects we demonstrated there. We're preparing as usual. Japan is ranked higher in the FIFA rankings in the group stage, so I expect opponents to often defend their goal like they did in the first match. In the next match, it's important to play with confidence and focus on a fast pace. India is a strong team, but I think we'll be able to create plenty of shooting opportunities. We'll play as usual and show my determination to score. 14 MF Hasegawa Yui We're all trying to perform at the same level regardless of who's on the field, so I want to show that in the next match. Even though the score was 0-0 in the first match, I still had the feeling that the goal would eventually come. But the moment we actually scored, I felt relaxed, and it really brought home to me the impact that mentality has on a match. The match against India is likely to play out similarly, so if we can score on the first or second play, I think it will be easier to navigate the game. Watching video of India, I get the impression they have powerful dribbling and can create chances from set pieces. Even the slightest bit of carelessness could lead to a loss, so we'll be focused and ready to take on loose balls and second balls. 21 DF Miyabi Moriya In the first match, we saw a lot of attacks from the left, so I focused on activating the right side. In a game where we were pushing so hard, we needed to be more proactive to avoid losing space, which is an issue. This is my first time playing for the national team in the Asian Cup, and I'm very happy to be playing. It's going to be a total battle with consecutive matches with only two days between matches, so I want to take advantage of my strengths as a player who can play both right and left. The NWSL emphasizes one-on-one play on both offense and defense, and I've been honing my driving force and strength in the ball. When I play, I want to carry the ball with driving force, and on defense, I want to use my one-on-one strength and speed to move forward and shut down opponents. 15 MF Fujino Aoba Even though we struggled to score goals for a while in the first match, I didn't feel too anxious. I was able to create one-on-one opportunities on the wing, and I often worked with Nagano Fuka and Kitagawa Hikaru to break down the defense, creating opportunities. However, focusing on my own results, I was often working outside the defense, which was a challenge, as I struggled to score goals. Overseas, I have honed my positioning and ability to move others smoothly as strengths. I hope to use my ability to maintain speed with the ball and get between opponents with my dribbles as weapons to translate these into goals next time. Perth is also where I made my debut on the pre-season tour after joining Manchester City, so I want to make my presence felt. 3 DF Minami Moeka Based on what we did well in the first match and what we need to improve on, we are well prepared, with our top priority being to win the game in front of us. Japan has many players with Asian tournament experience, so we were able to maintain our attacking composure in the first match. Even when we were struggling to score, we didn't get negative. Instead, we encouraged each other and made adjustments, challenging ourselves without fear of making mistakes. I don't think the match against India will be as easy as the first, and I expect they'll play defensively. We'll increase our scoring options and continue to attack even when we're not scoring, aiming for victory. 5 DF Takahashi Hana I think the most important thing about our first match was winning. On top of that, what was important was to continue doing what we had to do, regardless of the situation, so as not to get impatient and lose focus on the team's goals. There were moments when the heat threatened to cause us to lose focus, but we made sure to keep calling out to each other. From the first half of the first match, we shared the analysis that targeting the pocket and making runs from the second row would be effective, so I think the opening goal went exactly as planned. We had decided to do the goal celebration with Momoko Tanikawa. I think India is a team with unique strengths, so I hope to maintain high standards on both offense and defense while also coming up with new ideas for a defensively-focused opponent.
Click on Insert, mark the text and then click on Strike-through. I wrote 5:0 Japan because I know that unepommekun is strict and likes to deduct points.
Mmm... like this? Seems to work. I had never considered the "Insert" button before: even when I was inserting or Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler spoilers I was doing that manually. I wonder if there is a keybord-shortcut for the Strike-Through (Bold, Italic and Underline have, respectively, Ctrl + B, Ctrl + I, Ctrl + U)
Today I should be home from work in time to watch the game. I hope Nadeshiko Japan will post a solid performance and a more substantial number of goals.
Today’s We League cup results Group A Regina 3 (Yanase, Ueno, Nakashima) - Elfen 1 (Hirao) Inac 1 (Michigami) - Omiya 4 (Kanehira, Hamada, Sato, Ooshima) Inac is out. Group B Mynavi 0 - Beleza 0 (pk 3-1) Nagano 0 - Jef 1 (Yamaguchi) 3 teams with 8 points : Mynavi - Jef - Beleza. Group C Nojima Stella 2 (Katayama x2) - Urawa 4 (Tanno, Sakakibara, Shimada, Nagashima) Tomorrow, Albi vs Osaka
AFC Womens Asian Cup JPN V IND I am so pleased that I have just seen Yuzuki Yamamoto's name in the starting line up (All I need to hear now is that she is heading for North West England)
Random thought on our CB's today When Saki Kumagai won the World Cup in 2011 at the age of 20... 5-year-old Toko Koga at that time had not yet begun her adventure with football. However, this year, Koga, now 20, will have the opportunity to repeat Kumagai achievement in AFC Cup. (and next year at WWC as well though she will be 21)