The U18 women’s national team lost (0-2) against Japan in a friendly on Sunday at CNF Clairefontaine.
Japan did not succeed in French women’s football this summer. After the recent elimination of France U20 by Japan in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Costa Rica (3-3 and 3 shots on goal 5), the women’s national U18 team lost in turns against their Asian opponents, winning (2-0) in a friendly match played on Sunday at the Pierre-Pibarot stadium CNF Clairefontaine.
The final score was obtained from the break in the preparatory meeting for the 2022 Women’s World Cup U17 (from 11 to 30 October in India) where the young French women will find… Japan in the group stage. Midfielder Uno Shiragaki (0-1, 27′) and striker Ai Tsujisawa (0-2, 45’+3) scored both goals in the first half.
One and a half months before the World Cup, coach Cécile Locatelli clearly followed the behavior of his group and his opponents very carefully: “ We played a tough game against a very good team from Japan, with a disciplined collective, very well organized on the pitch, and a simple triangle game that caused us a lot of problems and stabbed us too easily, especially in the first half. . We are too aligned and too academic. I liked my team more in the second half and their reaction after correcting two or three things. We’re obviously disappointed to lose, but this game is rich in lessons, to make the girls realize that after the European championships the World Cup will offer us teams on another level. We still lack movement and projection at the heart of the game, generosity in our game to tickle countries like Japan, which we will find in India. We still have two days and a game, Tuesday, against our U19 women’s team, to train in this camp. HAVEclose, it will also be necessary to work physically to be ready for the World Cup “.
The Bleuettes will have twelve days of preparation in early October before the World Cup in India, with a friendly against China on October 4 at Clairefontaine.
