22-Year Regular Time Winless Streak + 4 Consecutive Losses: China U20 Women's Football Team Faces "Nemesis" Japan in Semifinals

Written by Han Bing Japan, China U20 women's football team's semifinal opponent, not only holds a dominant position in Asia but is also a top contender for the U20 Women's World Cup title.

From 2002 to the present across 12 editions of the U20 Women's Asian Cup, Japan has won 6 championships and 1 runner-up title, with only one instance (2004) failing to reach the semifinals. In the U20 Women's World Cup, across 6 tournaments since 2012, Japan has secured 1 championship, 2 runner-up titles, and 2 third-place finishes.

In the Women's U20 Asian Cup, China has suffered 4 consecutive losses and 7 matches without a win against Japan, with the last victory occurring in the 2006 Women's U19 Asian Youth Championship. At that time, China drew 1-1 with Japan in regular time and narrowly won in the penalty shootout. The regular-time victory over Japan's U19 women's team dates back to the 2004 Women's U19 Asian Youth Championship quarter-finals, where China secured a 1-0 win in Suzhou. This remains the sole regular-time victory for China in 10 encounters with Japan since the inception of the U19 Women's Asian Youth Championship (predecessor of the U20 Women's Asian Cup) in 2002.

This year's Japan U20 women's team is equally formidable. They participated in the SUD Women's Cup held in Avignon, France last May, defeating the host French team 4-1. The team's head coach is 55-year-old Akira Ijiri. He served as an assistant coach for Japan's U17 national youth team in 2011 and coached Guangzhou R&F's U15梯队 in 2016. From 2019, he coached Vietnam's U15, U16, and U19 women's teams, and served as a technical advisor for the Vietnam women's football team from 2020 to 2024, boasting a rich coaching履历. For this U20 Women's Asian Cup, Japan's goal is also to win the championship and end the nightmare of losing twice to North Korea in the finals of the 2024 U20 Women's Asian Cup and the U20 Women's World Cup.

This Japanese team is very young, with four players only 17 years old: defenders Yuna Aoki, Momone Sato, midfielders Noa Fukushima, and Anka Sano, with the youngest Noa Fukushima being just 17 years and 4 months old. Among the 23 players, 17 play for clubs in Japan's top women's football league. Midfielders Noa Fukushima and Anka Sano come from the Japan Football Association Fukushima Academy. Midfielder Asako Furuta (Osaka Tezukayama Gakuin University) and defenders Natsuko Suzuki, midfielder Yura Honda (Yokohama Japan Sports University) are university players. The No.10 forward Mao Itamura has already moved abroad, playing for Feyenoord Women's team in the Dutch Eredivisie. However, midfielder Mio Arai, who plays for Osaka Sakura Yama Women's Football Club, withdrew from this tournament on April 8 due to injury.

Japan's U20 women's team primarily employs a 4231 formation. Goalkeeper Yuhiro Iwasaki, defenders Yuna Aoki, Tamaki Asao, and Mizuki Ota form the defensive core. Midfielder Asako Furuta anchors the midfield, though three different defensive midfield partners were used across three matches. On the offensive end, forward Anon Tsuda leads the attack, with Natsumi Tago being the main rotation player. Yura Honda plays centrally, with Mirai Kimura on the right wing. On the left wing, Noa Fukushima, Mao Itamura, and Natsuko Suzuki have all started.

This Japanese team excels in ball control and has multiple attacking points. In the group stage, 13 goals were scored by 8 different players, with winger Mirai Kimura scoring 3 goals, midfielders Asako Furuta and Yura Honda, and forward Natsumi Tago each scoring 2 goals. The youngest player, Noa Fukushima, also scored. Japan dominated possession in all three group stage matches, even rotating 9 starters in the second match against strong opponent Australia and still winning 5-2.

Most of Japan's主力阵容 players come from the Japanese women's football league. Forward Natsumi Tago, who scored two goals, also had the highest one-on-one dribbling success rate (69.6%) in the Japanese women's league last season. Forwards Anon Tsuda, Miumi Matsunaga, Mirai Kimura, midfielders Miharu Mashiro, and Rika Higuchi all logged playing time in the 1000-minute range. The 17-year-old defenders Yuna Aoki, Momone Sato, forward Natsumi Tago, and goalkeeper Yuhiro Iwasaki are key substitutes for their respective clubs. With relatively extensive professional league experience, Japan's U20 women's team naturally holds a commanding领先 position in Asia.

Coach Akira Ijiri stated he will continue轮换 in the semifinals. Forwards Anon Tsuda and midfielder Mao Itamura each scored 6 goals in the qualifiers. In the group stage, winger Mirai Kimura and midfielder Asako Furuta performed notably, making them key players for the Chinese women's team to防范.