Olympics Preview: Japan

by Christopher Heath and Holly Wright (23/7/24)

Above: Japan celebrate their qualification for the Olympics. Photo: Women’s Olympic Games 2024.

Japan will be out to complete the set of women’s football titles in Paris at the sixth time of asking. Along with Spain, they are the only footballing nation to have won all three peaks of FIFA’s female football mountain however they have failed to reach the same heights in the Olympics.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Ayaka Yamashita, Chika Hirao.

Defenders: Saki Kumagai, Risa Shimizu, Moeka Minami, Hana Takahashi, Hikaru Kitagawa, Toko Koga.

Midfielders: Yui Hasegawa, Kiko Seike, Honoka Hayashi, Fuka Nagano, Hinata Miyazawa, Aoba Fujino, Momoko Tanikawa.

Forwards: Mina Tanaka, Riko Ueki, Maika Hamano.

Alternate Players (can only be selected if any players above are injured): Shu Ohba (GK), Miyabi Moriya (DF), Rion Ishikawa (DF), Remina Chiba (FW).

Head coach

The saviour of Japanese football, Futoshi Ikeda is a footballing icon within the nation. A former player himself, he retired in 1996 to focus on his coaching career. Since 2017 he has been a substantial part of the national team starting out at youth level. He led Japan to victory in the under-19s AFC Championships in 2017 and then a year later guided the under-20s to World Cup success. A team built around youthfulness and passion there is a sense of unity amongst the country once again, and that is widely thanks to this man who has regenerated the national side.

Olympics History

This will be Japan’s sixth appearance at an Olympic Games since 1996 (2004, 2008, 2012, 2020). Japanese football was on a major decline until the appointment of Eiji Ueda in August 2002. The former player revitalised the team, focusing on the 2004 Olympics which they qualified for, but it was shortly after winning the 2011 World Cup that marks Japan’s best-ever achievement in the Games.

They had qualified for the tournament by finishing first in the Asian qualifiers. In their group, they finished second behind Sweden. The Nadeshiko then went on to defeat Brazil in the quarter-finals before dispatching France in the semi-finals. However, they ultimately lost against the United States in the final after they got revenge in what was a repeat of the previous year’s World Cup final going down 2-1 to two goals from Carli Lloyd.

How they qualified

Japan have had their place in the Olympics confirmed since February after a narrow 2-1 victory on aggregate over North Korea in the final round of the Asian qualifying tournament. After a 0-0 stalemate in the first leg in Saudi Arabia, everything was all to play for. Hana Takahashi put Japan in front midway through the first half. Aoba Fujino then doubled their advantage before Kim Hye Yong made it a nervy last 10 minutes halving the deficit but the hosts managed to hold on denying their opponents a place at their first Olympics since 2012.

Strengths

They have a plethora of attacking talent. A wide-attacking stance from start to finish in their matches, predominantly relying on both wing-backs two of three from either Miyabi Moriya, Hana Takahashi, and/or Risa Shimizu – to be heavily involved in their attacks, as well as in the final third with the likes of Mina Tanaka, Hinata Miyazawa, and Aoba Fujino.

It is worth remembering that Japan has a goalscoring average of at least two goals in their six matches this calendar year. They can also boast familiarity of playing together – eight of Futoshi Ikeda’s squad were present four years ago at the Tokyo Games where Nadeshiko successfully navigated a passage out of the group stage before being eliminated by Sweden in the quarter-finals.

Development areas

Ikeda’s side looked a lot more like an attack-minded than a defensive-based unit throughout their ruthless route to lifting the 2023 Asian Games trophy which saw Japan end the tournament as top scorers with 39 goals. Committing a large number of players up the pitch could prove disastrous with the quality that their three opponents in the group have.

Key Players

Riko Ueki

Having played a key role in saving her club side West Ham United from relegation after finding the back of the net on six occasions in 22 appearances, Ueki was deservedly called into manager Ikeda’s 18-player squad. An ever-present in all of Japan’s World Cup matches, the goal scorer has already got her name on the scoresheet on 11 occasions across 35 international appearances for her country.

The Hammers’ top scorer in last season’s WSL has worked tirelessly to evolve her game from playing for Japan’s Under-17s set-up in 2016 to making her debut for the senior squad in only three years. One of Nadeshiko Japan’s success stories has, so far, she has already netted 20 goals in 46 appearances across all levels of the county’s up-and-coming footballing heritage.

Expected to form a formidable forward frontline with Miyazawa and Nagano playing just in behind her in their opening match in Nantes on Thursday against no less than the current defending World champions Spain. However, a spanner could be thrown into the works as she faces competition from fellow WSL striker Maika Hamano of Chelsea, and INAC Kobe Leonessa striker Mina Tanaka, as the country’s sole starting striker for the duration of the Games across France.

Hinata Miyazawa

Having lifted the Golden Boot at the 2023 World Cup after netting five goals in as many games, there were high hopes for Miyazawa in her maiden season in English football.

However, not everything went to plan for Manchester United’s new signing from Mynavi Sendai, as she started only 12 WSL games (16 in all competitions) in 2023/24, finding the back of the net on only the solitary occasion and contributing the same number of assists. Seeing those statistics suggests that Miyazawa has struggled to settle in England, but on closer inspection, her campaign was plagued by an ankle injury picked up on international duty in December that required surgery and subsequently resulted in 15 missed match days.

With something to prove to her doubters, the now fully-fit 24-year-old, who has scored nine goals in 36 appearances for her country, is expected to play a big part in managerFutoshi Ikeda’s tactical plans of reaching another Olympics Games final, after Japan finished as runners-up in London 12 years ago.

One to watch

Fuka Nagano

With all of the attacking talent that Japan has at their disposal, they are still going to need a defensive juggernaut in their ranks. Call forward Fuka Nagano.

Playing her football for Liverpool in the WSL, Nagano started all but one of the Reds’ league matches last season and was a key part of her club only conceding 28 goals in 22 league games. Having formed a goal-forbidding partnership alongside Ceri Holland and Marie Höbinger at club level, the number eight will now likely line up alongside Yui Hasegawa and Aoba Fujino in France.

This will be Miyazawa, Ueki, and Nagano’s maiden venture into an Olympic Games after not being involved in Japan’s quarter-final exit in 2020 at the hands of Sweden. Nonetheless, all three players were present at the 2023 World Cup, which incidentally saw Ikeda’s side eliminated at the same stage as four years ago by those same Swedes.

Success would be

Escaping the group to begin with would be huge given the opposition. From there, if they can prove to be as strong in defence as they can be in attack, then anything is possible, including going one step further than they did in London 2012 when Japan took silver.

Prediction

In only their second back-to-back Olympic Games, Japan will be keen to try and go one step further than in 2012 but will face a daunting challenge to progress as their Olympic group of death contains no less than the defending World champions Spain, Brazil, and Nigeria. However, their performance at last year’s World Cup will fill the nation with optimism as they look to overcome that final step in search of the gold medal in Paris this year.