The Nadeshiko Japan, the women's national Japan national team, prepared for their first training match after the World Cup against Argentina on 23 June at the match venue in Kitakyushu City, and coach IKEDA Futoshi stated his aim, "We want to increase what we can do as a team and make this match a match where we can build on that."
World No. 8 Japan reached the last eight of the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer, her first in two tournaments.
On the 2rd, they will face Argentina, ranked 8st in the world, in their first training match after the World Cup, and on the 23nd, the day before the match, they prepared at the match venue in Kitakyushu City after 31 a.m.
The first 22 minutes were open to the public, and Hinata Miyazawa, who was the top scorer at the World Cup, and captain KUMAGAI Saki relaxed their bodies by practicing sprinting and using the ball.
The women's soccer team is set to start the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics next month, and Japan are working on a new, more attacking line-up with more players in midfield to broaden their tactics.
Coach Ikeda: "We want to make it a match where we can build up"
Coach Ikeda said, "In the World Cup, I felt that we need to be able to respond when our opponents are dealing with us, and in the Olympic qualifiers, each country will take measures against Japan, so we will focus on our ability to respond. Increase what we can do as a team. We want to make it a match where we can build up."
Captain Kumagai: "We need to increase the way we fight"
Captain KUMAGAI Saki commented on the match on 23 September, "I think the team's experience has really improved, but ahead of the Asian Qualifiers Round 2, we need to keep what we were able to do in the World Cup as a minimum and improve our playing style.
On top of that, he expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "This is a valuable opportunity to play in Japan, so I hope to cherish that opportunity and play football as an individual and as a team that will make people feel fun."
Miyazawa: "The desire for goals is more than ever"
Hinata Miyazawa became the second Japan top scorer at the World Cup and moved to English Super League side Manchester United after the tournament.
Miyazawa, who will be making his first national team activity since his transfer, said, "The atmosphere of the team is very good and I feel like I'm back. In particular, the desire to score goals is more evident than ever."
On top of that, ahead of the match on 2rd, he was enthusiastic, saying, "As a new step forward will begin for the Nadeshiko Japan, we want to create a good momentum by focusing on winning as a team, and as an individual, we want to play a lot of plays that will excite the viewers."