Japan put Nadeshiko football back on the map, says proud coach

AUCKLAND, Aug 11 – Japan arrived on the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a mission to place Nadeshiko soccer again on the worldwide map and coach Futoshi Ikeda felt that they had performed so regardless of Friday’s quarter-final exit by the hands of Sweden.

World Cup winners in 2011 and runners-up to the United States 4 years later, Japan slumped out within the final 16 in on the 2015 event and misplaced to the Swedes within the quarter-finals at their residence Olympics in 2021.

“We managed to get through to this stage by winning all our matches,” Ikeda informed reporters.

“And I saw the team grow, the players grew at this World Cup, and we were able to demonstrate Japan’s Nadeshiko football on the global stage. That’s a fact.

“We additionally misplaced this match, that is additionally a truth, however we have now to evaluate this World Cup and the work the gamers have performed positively. I’m proud.”

The young Japanese team had set the tournament alight with their bright and breezy football on the way to the last eight, the highlight being their 4-0 thrashing of Spain in their final group match.

They hit a roadblock at Eden Park on Friday in the shape of the Swedes, who shut down their midfield for more than an hour with a suffocating press and then held on for a 2-1 win when Japan finally found their rhythm in the latter stages.

“The gamers fought onerous till the tip,” Ikeda added. “They gave every little thing that that they had. The gamers ought to elevate their chins up and be happy with what they did right here.”

Asked what he told his players after the game, Ikeda again returned to the theme of the revival of the women’s game in Japan.

“Of course, afterwards I talked about this World Cup, however greater than that, I talked about the truth that Nadeshiko soccer remains to be alive,” he mentioned. 

—Reuters