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Like many individuals on this nation, I’ve solely actually adopted the fortunes of Nadeshiko Japan (the ladies’s nationwide soccer crew) crew since they triumphed over the USA on penalties within the 2011 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup Closing. Profitable the most important prize of all got here at an necessary time for a rustic which had a couple of months earlier suffered enormously because of the earthquake and tsunami that ripped by components of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. It gave the nation a a lot wanted carry and actually helped put ladies’s soccer on the radar for a lot of the nation.
Since then, Nadeshiko Japan have had their ups and downs. They’ve twice gained the Asian Cup however they did not qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and had even slipped out of the highest ten rankings forward of the current Ladies’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. I nonetheless believed they had been able to not less than attending to the final 4 and issues did look fairly promising after a 100% file (with none targets being conceded) within the group stage.
Nonetheless, the USA’s conquerors Sweden beat Nadeshiko Japan 2-1 within the quarter finals however then misplaced by the identical scoreline in opposition to Spain within the semi ultimate. That was the identical Spain who had been thrashed 4-0 by Japan within the group stage however went on to really win the entire thing after beating my native England Lionesses within the ultimate.
Nearly all of the World Cup matches had been sadly scheduled throughout my working hours so I didn’t get to see as many reside matches as I wished however I did sustain with all of it by way of highlights on the FIFA+ web site in addition to quite a lot of podcasts. The truth that there was no correct TV deal in Japan (NHK solely confirmed the Japan video games and the ultimate) and little or no protection on the information meant this World Cup completely bypassed a lot of the nation.
Had Japan managed to defeat Sweden then perhaps it might’ve been a unique story however, aside from the hardcore followers. it takes a number of success for the lots to actually get desirous about such issues right here. There may be the concern that Japan is falling behind the European groups the place there was extra funding within the recreation in current instances.
On the again of their World Cup success in 2011 it nonetheless took a decade to get the skilled WE League up and working. Its inception although has coincided with a surge in reputation of leagues within the likes of Spain, France and England, and it does appear to be the sport in Japan is beginning to lag behind extra international locations than earlier than.
A big a part of the attraction for individuals attending ladies’s soccer in these international locations has been the extra family-friendly ambiance however in Japan you’ve already acquired that to an extent with the lads’s recreation so it’s onerous to know the way the feminine recreation can differentiate itself.
The WE League has adopted the European-style calendar for its two seasons so far so that’s one thing totally different however after all there’s a little bit of overlap. After its introduction, the Nadeshiko League turned the second tier of girls’s soccer and again in June and July I attended a trio of matches on this league at three totally different stadiums on consecutive Sundays. Probably the most adventurous journey was the center one and to be truthful it didn’t actually reward my efforts in getting all the way in which over to the opposite aspect of Shizuoka Prefecture on a 3 hour a technique native practice journey.
Nonetheless, there’s extra to match days than simply the sport and it was good to see a soccer match at this stadium for the primary time. There have been some wall murals and children work from the 2002 FIFA World Cup when the stadium hosted a couple of video games together with the quarter ultimate between Brazil and England the place Ronaldinho lobbed Seaman from 40 yards for the winner.
In additional recnt instances the stadium held 4 Rugby World Cup matches in 2019 together with South Africa in opposition to Italy however essentially the most well-known match was Japan’s shock defeat of Eire, and certainly there may be even a statue to commemorate Kenki Fukuoka’s decisive attempt in that win.
I used to be by no means actually taking a look at returning to this stadium however when looking out on-line for matches in Shizuoka Prefecture I got here throughout this one and so a plan was made to see and do a couple of different issues in and round that space nevertheless it didn’t fairly go to plan!
Sadly the new situations meant the soccer was not the very best, and I’m actually unsure why it was performed in that huge stadium.
Sanwiched in between that recreation in Shizuoka had been a few Sfida Setagaya matches with essentially the most anticipated one for me being on the outdated Olympic Stadium in Komazawa Park. Once more, the on-the-field motion sadly didn’t reside as much as the pre-match festivities however that didn’ matter an excessive amount of because the off-the-field actions greater than made up for that.
The spotlight of the day was assembly my favorite Setagaya participant forward of kick off on one more super-hot afternoon. Extra particulars right here
By way of the precise soccer, the sport in Chofu a fortnight earlier than that was essentially the most fascinating one. 12 months earlier I had seen the identical sides with Setagaya romping it 6-0. It was a a lot tighter affair this time and certainly the house aspect had been fairly fortunate to carry on to their lead in a match filled with probabilities.
My first ladies’s match of this yr although was a step up from the three talked about so far because it was a high of the desk conflict that includes the innaugural WE League champions INAC Kobe in Tokyo on the closest stadium to the Tokyo Fox World Operations Centre.
The ambiance, event and the soccer itself was higher than what I’d witnesssed on earlier visits to Nishigaoka. A draw was in all probability a good outcome and in the end not ok for both aspect as they did not meet up with Urawa Reds Girls who went on to win Japan’s premier ladies’s league by eight factors.
Bonus: In a lot of the western world, the concept of seeing a recreation on Christmas Day is fairly absurd however that’s precisely what my spouse and I did on the finish of final yr after we noticed eventual champions Urawa Reds. This match was a part of the 2022-23 season! Extra particulars right here
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