The details of the United States U-20 WNT’s trip to Japan have yet to be publicly released by US Soccer, but the Japan Football Association has released the full details of two friendlies between Japan’s U-20 WNT and the USA’s U-20 WNT, along with their camp roster.
And, there is some potential good news for USA fans: At least one of the team’s matches will be streamed live on JFA-TV, although the kick-off will be at 2:00 a.m. EDT on a weekday. The other match will air on Fuji-TV in Japan, at least in the Tokyo and Osaka areas. In any case, there should be a good chance that online highlights will be available, whether official or not.
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MATCH DETAILS
Sunday, June 17th: Public Friendly, USA vs Japan
Venue: Osaka Nagai Stadium (attendance is free)
Kick-Off: 1:05 p.m. local time. (12:05 a.m. EDT)
TV: Fuji-TV, live (Kansai and Kanto regions, e.g., Osaka & Tokyo)
Streaming: Unknown
For more information: JFA (in Japanese)
Wednesday, June 20th: Friendly, USA vs Japan
Venue: Soccer National Training Center, Sakai (Osaka Prefecture)
Kick-Off: 3:00 p.m. local time (2:00 a.m. EDT)
Streaming: Live on JFA-TV, per this JFA page (Japanese)
{Edit: Here’s the direct link – www.jfa.or.jp/jfatv/live/)
I am unaware of any geo-blocking issues with JFA-TV (in fact a Google search of “JFA-TV” plus “geo-blocking”, brings up nothing), although buffering might be an issue for those with lower broadband speeds. There is also a ustream channel which could be an option (www.ustream.tv/channel/jfatv).
For more about the training center in Sakai, which is a very nice and apparently new facility, see: jgreen-sakai.jp, www.ofa-dreamcamp.jp, interactive panorama tour.
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JAPAN’S CAMP
The dates of their training camp are from June 14th to the 21st (Thursday to Thursday).
Twenty-two players were called, including three goalkeepers. Notable players not included in the roster are Mana Iwabuchi (NTV Beleza), who will probably be with the senior WNT in Sweden and Mai Kyokawa (INAC Kobe) who suffered “multiple knee injuries” earlier this month (Mainichi.jp, English). Kyokawa, who led Japan in goals scored during qualifying last year will be out of action for at least six months, meaning that she will not be competing at the U-20 WWC this August.
TABLE 1: Japan U-20 WNT Camp Roster
(Height and Weight are in inches and pounds, respectively. Names are in traditional Japanese format, with the surname first.)
PLAYER P. HT. WT. D.O.B. CLUB IKEDA Sakiko GK 66.1 127.9 09/08/1992 Urawa Reds Ladies MURAOKA Megumi GK 66.5 132.3 07/22/1993 FC Vitoria (Japan) MOCHIZUKI Arisa GK 67.3 147.7 04/15/1994 NTV Menina/Beleza SAKAMOTO Riho DF 63.8 112.4 07/07/1992 Urawa Reds Ladies KINOSHITA Shiori DF 65.0 119.0 08/17/1992 NTV Beleza NAKAMURA Yushika DF 61.0 112.4 08/21/1992 Kanto Gakuen Univ. HAMADA Haruka DF 68.1 134.5 01/26/1993 Speranza FC Osaka TAKAGI Hikari DF 65.0 123.5 05/21/1993 Waseda University WADA Naoko DF 62.2 112.4 05/24/1993 Urawa Reds Ladies MURAMATSU Tomoko DF 63.4 110.2 10/23/1994 NTV Beleza FUJITA Nozomi MF 59.8 110.2 02/21/1992 Urawa Reds Ladies SHIBATA Hanae MF 60.2 94.8 07/27/1992 Urawa Reds Ladies KAWASHIMA Haruna MF 61.4 101.4 04/12/1993 n/a TANAKA Yoko MF 61.8 103.6 07/30/1993 INAC Kobe Leonessa NAKADA Ayu MF 63.4 121.3 08/15/1993 INAC Kobe Leonessa KATO Chika MF 59.8 105.8 02/28/1994 Urawa Reds Ladies NAOMOTO Hikaru MF 61.8 110.2 03/03/1994 Urawa Reds Ladies NAKASATO Yu MF 57.9 88.2 07/14/1994 NTV Beleza NISHIKAWA Asuka FW 65.4 127.9 04/22/1992 FC Takahashi... U. YOKOYAMA Kumi FW 61.0 110.2 08/13/1993 Okayama Yunogo Belle TANAKA Mina FW 63.4 114.6 04/28/1994 NTV Beleza MICHIGAMI Ayaka FW 66.9 143.3 07/27/1994 Tokiwagi Gakuen HS
Of the above 22, everyone except Ikeda (GK), Kinoshita (DF), Muramatsu (DF), Nakasato (MF), Nishikawa (FW), Tanaka (FW), and Michigami (FW) were with the team at the 2011 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship (roster, the-afc.com).
In late March and early April, the team traveled to France and played a French WNT “B” side twice, where they won the first match 3:0 (goals: Kyokawa, Kato, Michigami), but lost the second match 1:2 (goal: Nakada). The team also played French club FCF Juvicy, with whom they drew 2:2 (goals: Michigami, Takano). (brief JFA news item, English)
All but Muraoka (GK), Sakamoto (DF), Fujita (MF), Muramatsu (MF), and Michigami (FW) traveled to France for those test matches (roster, JFA). Muramatsu was originally called up, but did not go due to a minor injury (JFA news item).
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Sources: Japanese write-up (with vital stats for the players in English), English write-up (useful for club information, due to Google Translate issues).
Also, here is the team page for Japan’s U-20 WNT on the JFA website (in Japanese, of course).
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