“Nadeshiko Japan” won the final warm-up game for the World Cup.
It embodies the “aggressive football” that Coach Futoshi Ikeda aims for, and raised expectations for the actual performance.
Japan scored 5 goals in this match.
More than solving the problem of lack of scoring ability, what we gained was that we were able to stick to the “aggressive defense” that we have been honing for about two years under Coach Ikeda.
In the early minutes, the opponents had time to keep possession of the ball, but the players on the pitch discussed with each other and corrected the “loss” of the ball.
From around the 15th minute of the first half, forward players such as Tanaka Mina and Fujino Aoba continued to chase the opposing defenders and goalkeepers and apply pressure.
Panama gradually lost their offense and started to kick the ball up front more often.
The defense, led by KUMAGAI Saki, responded well to the monotonous attacks of the opponents, who focused on long balls, and did not concede a single shot.
Ignacio Quintana, coach of the Panama national team, said, “They put pressure on us from a high position, which led to our mistakes and led to Japan’s explosive attacks.”
Although they weren’t able to score from the ideal form of stealing the ball from a high position, the goal rush was achieved by the players who embodied the “aggressive football” that the team is aiming for.
Expectations were also raised for the battle with the world’s top ranking powerhouses in the actual race.
On the 15th, the Nadeshiko team will leave for New Zealand, where they will compete in the World Cup.
2023-07-14 15:57:31
#Soccer #girl #Nadeshiko #Japan #wins #Panama #final #warmup #game #World #Cup #NHK
