In the first match of the Olympic women's soccer tournament, the Japanese women's soccer team encountered the powerful Spanish women's soccer team, and finally lost by a score of 1-2. After the game, the core of the Japanese women's midfield, Wei Hasegawa, was interviewed and gave an in-depth analysis and reflection on the game.
Vivian Hasegawa began by pointing out the formation troubles the team encountered in the first half. She said that the team encountered some difficulties with their formation in the first half, and the players gave feedback on this. In order to cope with the Spanish women's soccer team's attack, the team made a decisive adjustment in the second half, switching to a five-guard formation, aiming to better cope with the opponent's attack from the inside by increasing the strength of the center backs. This adjustment improved the team's defensive stability to a certain extent, but Hasegawa admits that even so, the Spanish women's soccer players are still able to move more freely, and the team is still facing a lot of pressure on the defensive side.
She especially mentioned the defensive performance in the first 20 minutes of the second half, saying that the team showed a very tough defensive attitude during that time. Even when the Spanish women controlled the ball for a long time, the Japanese women's soccer team was able to stabilize their position and did not give too many chances to their opponents. However, during this period of commendable defensive performance, the team unfortunately conceded a goal. Vivian Hasegawa said that the goal conceded was particularly unfortunate because it happened when the team was outnumbered and was broken through and scored by the opponent, which was certainly a heavy blow to the defensive system adopted by the team.
Nonetheless, Vivian Hasegawa also recognized the team's performance on the defensive end. She pointed out that despite the fact that the Spanish women's soccer team had more time to control the ball, the team did not feel too threatened, which gave them some confidence in their defensive system. However, she also realized that the team still gave the opponent some space in the middle during the defensive process, which is something that needs to be improved in the next step.
In terms of the performance throughout the game, Vivienne Hasegawa felt that apart from the second goal, there were very few obvious mistakes made by the team. It was a pity that this "almost perfect" defensive performance could not be converted into a victory because of the two goals conceded. However, she also emphasized that the game is over and the team needs to quickly adjust their mentality and prepare for the challenges ahead.
Looking ahead, Vivian Hasegawa said that the team will seriously summarize the lessons learned from this game and carry out targeted training and improvement for the existing problems. She believes that as long as the whole team is united and works hard, they will be able to achieve better results in the coming matches.
