U-16 Japan Women's National Team wins over Italy in their first match of the 4th Delle Nazioni Tournament #football

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 10:38:34 +0900
U-16 Japan Women's National Team wins over Italy in their first match of the 4th Delle Nazioni Tournament

The 4th Delle Nazioni Tournament vs U-17 Italy Women's National Team
Sun. 28 April 2019 18:00 (Local time) Match duration 70mins (35mins×2)
Gradisca d'isonzo, Italy

U-16 Japan Women's National Team 3-0 (0-0, 3-0) U-17 Italy Women's National Team

Scores
51' AMANO Suzu (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)
54' NISHIO Hanon (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)
59' NISHIO Hanon (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: HATTORI Momoka
DF: KOYAMA Shinomi, HAYASHI Manaka, ISHIKAWA Rion, HAZEKAWA Yuna
MF: TANNO Ririka, OTA Moe, AMANO Suzu, MINOWA Chisato
FW: NISHIKIORI Miki, HAMANO Maika

Reserves
GK: NODA Nina
DF: ASAKURA Kanako
MF: OGIKUBO Yuri, KIMURA Sana, OYAMA Aemu
FW: MATSUO Mizuki, NISHIO Hanon, MUNAKATA Minami

Substitutions
52' NISHIKIORI Miki → NISHIO Hanon
52' HAMANO Maika → MATSUO Mizuki
53' OTA Moe → OYAMA Aemu
67' KOYAMA Shinomi → ASAKURA Kanako
67' MINOWA Chisato → KIMURA Sana
73' AMANO Suzu → OGIKUBO Yuri
73' TANNO Ririka → MUNAKATA Minami

Match Report

On Sunday 28 April, the U-16 Japan Women's National Team played their first match of the 4th Delle Nazioni Tournament against the host nation, the U-17 Italy Women's National Team.

During their pre-match meeting, Coach KANO Michihisa told his players, “Let’s work together as a team and play with great aggression.”

With the match kicking off under a rainy weather, the Japanese players seemed to have a difficult time dealing with the wet pitch condition. For many of the players, this was their first time facing foreign players, which made them look nervous in the early minutes of the match. Japan struggled to find their rhythm in the first half, but still managed to showcase their persistence to keep a clean sheet against the home side, entering halftime scoreless. Contrary to their performance in the first half, the second half saw the Japanese side seemingly loosened up, as they started to pick up their pace. The opening goal came for Japan in the 51st minute, when AMANO Suzu converted the cut back from HAMANO Maika. With momentum on their side, Japan’s second half substitute, NISHIO Hanon scored back-to-back goals in the 54th and 59th minute to make it 3-0. OYAMA Aemu also came close to scoring in the 60th minute, but her attempt missed wide to the right. Japan went onto keep the clean sheet to win their first match of their first ever international tournament 3-0.

The U-16 Japan Women's National Team will now face the U-17 Russia Women's National Team on Monday 29.

Players' Comments

MF #6 AMANO Suzu (INAC Kobe Leoncina)
First of all, I am very glad that we managed to win our first match in our first ever international tournament as the U-16 Japan Women's National Team. During our pre-match meeting, we set our goal as a team and entered the match with a strong intention. Although we struggled to settle the ball in the first half, we managed to keep communicating with each other and make the adjustments as the match progressed. The fact that we managed to score a goal when we started to pick up our pace in the second half and gain more momentum in the match, gives us great confidence moving forward.

MF #8 OTA Moe (JFA Academy Fukushima)
We were very anxious about playing on natural turf, the rainy weather, and the fact that we were facing bigger and faster opponents. From those reasons, we struggled to find our rhythm in the early minutes of the first half. I personally was very nervous and couldn’t find my composure, but my teammates kept communicating with me to get me relaxed. As the match progressed, we were able to showcase our strengths and score three goals to earn the victory. We hope to utilise our strong point to win our next match as well.

FW #10 NISHIKIORI Miki (JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18)
The players abroad are so much bigger than us and we struggled to create opportunities against them in the first half. However, as time went by, we started to take control of the ball possession and picked up our pace. Personally, I was able to exploit the space behind the opposing defenders but couldn’t keep the ball as much as I wanted to, so that’s something I will try to improve ahead of our next match. The fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet gives us great confidence, and we will continue to work hard to win our next match.

FW #15 NISHIO Hanon (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth)
With this being our first match of the tournament, we were very nervous, but at the same time, it was a very exciting match for me, because this was my first-time facing players from Europe. The speed, power, and physiques we saw here were so much different from what we are used to in Japan, and we struggled to cope with them in the early minutes of the match. Despite the early struggle, our team managed to stay vocal and find our usual performance during the match. Although I was able to showcase my strengths, I still felt the need to improve how I enter the match and reduce the numbers of mistakes when facing quick pressure from the opponents. I will continue to stay keen to score more goals.