On December 20, a major personnel change came to the Shanghai soccer world as Japanese soccer star Ms. Asako Takakura was officially appointed as the head coach of the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Women's Soccer Team. Looking back at the 2022 season, the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Women's Football Team was able to hold off the competition in the Women's Super League, finishing in fourth place.
Asako Takakura, a Japanese soccer legend born in 1968, represented the Japanese women's soccer team internationally as a player, was twice honored as the best player of the Japan Women's Football League and was named to the best team seven times. From 1991 to 1996, she participated in several tournaments at the Women's World Cup and the Atlanta Olympics.
After her retirement, Asako Takakura started her coaching career in 2007 as a women's soccer coach at the JFA National Training Base. She coached from the U13 level all the way up to the U20 level and led the Japan Women's National Team to win the AFC U19 Women's Football Championship in 2013. She then led the team to win the KAI Cup and the AFC U19 Women's Soccer Championship in 2015. Since 2016, Coach Takakura has been at the helm of the Japan Women's National Team, helping the team to win the Asian Women's Cup and Asian Games for the second consecutive year.
It is worth mentioning that since 2012, Asako Takakura has been honored as the AFC Women's Football Coach of the Year for seven consecutive years for her outstanding coaching ability.
