Tag Archives: FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup

2012 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Young Nadeshiko

Posted on by
Reply

(The Under-19 Japan women’s national football team romp to a 6-0 victory against Vietnam in the 2011 AFC Championship, which included a hat-trick from Kumi Yokoyama and a brace for Mai Kyōkawa. The latter will be absent as the Under-20 Women’s World Cup gets underway on Sunday, injury putting her hopes of participating beyond reach)

The Young Nadeshiko begin their campaign for World Cup success on 19 August against Mexico on the back of the silver medal the senior women’s side earned at the Olympic Games, and the prospects of success are strong as they seek to emulate the 2011 World Cup victory. The twenty-one player squad contains ten of those who featured in the 2010 Under-17 Women’s World Cup and lost in the final on penalties to South Korea, while as many as fifteen who took part in last year’s AFC Under-19 Women’s Championship triumph have been selected for a competition being played on home soil.

The Young Nadeshiko had been dealt a blow in their preparations with leading goalscorer and INAC Kobe Leonessa star Mai Kyōkawa absent through injury, while Mana Iwabuchi, still eligible for the Under-20 side, will not be participating owing to her recent commitments with the senior team, a decision made after she underwent surgery on a toe in January. However, manager Hiroshi Yoshida is still confident of success, proclaiming his players to be the most technically gifted in the world and believing they can play at an even higher level at this tournament.

Many of the games will be broadcast live around the world. For visitors to the site from Europe, Eurosport will be providing coverage, a schedule for which can be found here. In the United States, ESPNU will also be showing live matches, and for those in other territories, please click the link for details of broadcasters.

Japan’s Group A fixtures in full:

19 Aug 11:20 Japan vs Mexico Miyagi Stadium, Rifu
22 Aug 11:20 Japan vs New Zealand Miyagi Stadium, Rifu
26 Aug 11:20 Japan vs Switzerland National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo

(All times BST)

The Daily Round-up

Posted on by
Reply

(Adelaide United defeat Gamba Osaka 2-0 on 20 March in the 2012 AFC Champions League Group C game. Goals from Daniel Mullen gave the Australian team all three points, a result which left Gamba at the bottom of the table after two consecutive defeats)

Tadanari Lee’s season at English nPower Championship title contenders Southampton is over after ligament damage in his right leg, reports the Asahi Shimbun. The Samurai Blue, who transferred to the Saints at the end of January 2012, was initially expected to be absent for only one week after initial scans found no major problems from the training ground injury, but further assessments revealed significant problems and the decision was taken to undergo surgery. Lee’s recovery is anticipated to be between four and six months, meaning he stands to miss several AFC Group B qualification matches in Japan’s quest to qualify for Brazil 2014.

The Japan Football Association has announced the dates and venues for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun. The tournament, which changed venue twice before FIFA settled on Japan, kicks off in Miyagi on 19 August, with matches scheduled to take place at the Komaba Stadium in Saitama, Hiroshima’s Big Arch and the Kobe Univer Stadium, before the National Stadium in Tokyo takes centre-stage for the semi-finals onwards. The final and third place match end the tournament on 8 September. Full details can be found on the official tournament website.

And finally, the Sankei Shimbun confirms that Gamba Osaka manager Masanobu Matsunami is looking to take all three points in Tuesday’s 2012 AFC Champions League Group E match against Uzbekistan’s FC Bunyodkor at the Osaka Expo ’70 Stadium. Gamba’s attempt to qualify for the knock-out stages of the tournament began dreadfully with two defeats to leave them bottle of the table, but with four matches remaining and just three points separating second and fourth, Matsunami knows reaching the Round of 16 is not out of reach.