By Sean Miyaguchi,
The Japanese women's soccer team will face a critical test of their gold medal aspirations when they kick off their Tokyo Olympic campaign against Canada, captain Saki Kumagai said Tuesday.
On the eve of the clash in her home town of Sapporo, the Bayern Munich defender said Nadeshiko Japan were determined to take the points against an accomplished Canadian outfit ranked two places above them at No. 8 in the world.
"The result is going to be very important and I hope we can get off to a good start for our team," said Kumagai, a veteran of Japan's 2011 World Cup-winning side.
While Kumagai and her teammates aim to improve on Japan's best-ever result of silver at the 2012 London Games, their work will be cut out for them in a challenging Group E that includes Great Britain and Chile, along with back-to-back bronze medalists Canada.
The 30-year-old said last week's 1-0 friendly win over another potential medal contender, Australia, had given Japan a good assessment of their progress coming into the games.
"In our match against Australia, which was our closest (Olympic warm-up) match, I think we were able to prepare well. We performed well on both the attacking and defending ends," Kumagai said.
Japan head coach Asako Takakura acknowledged concerns about holding the games amid the coronavirus pandemic, but said she hoped to highlight the positive side of sports in Wednesday's match, which will be played behind closed doors at Sapporo Dome, two days before the Olympic opening ceremony.
"It's been a difficult situation that we've been going through before the Olympics," Takakura said. "But many people will be gathered there for the opening game with Canada, and this simple act of gathering together is something we are looking forward to."
After leading her side to a second straight bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, longtime Canadian captain Christine Sinclair is hoping to take home a different color medal from what are likely to be her last Olympics.
The 38-year-old said the strict entry rules and other safety regulations aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus posed a challenge for visiting athletes, but one her squad was well-prepared to meet.
"It's been a different preparation...with quarantining and the restrictions that have been put in place. But I think our team has adapted very well," Sinclair said.
"(In) the U.S. last season, we played under the same restrictions we have here, so we're used to it. Everyone's health and safety is No. 1. But within that, you've got to be able to perform. And we're ready to do that."
