Japan refers to its Women’s World Cup Soccer Team as “Nadeshiko Japan”. They have only had limited success on the world stage, but in the 2011 world cup, after a huge upset of German, it looks as if they are going to be garnering the attention of a much arger audience than usual.
This article is being written a day after Japan upset Germany and a few days before their pending match with Sweden.
Nadeshiko Japan is a hardworking team of women from a variety of teams around Japan. A simple way to explain the system is to say that the women play for a variety of corporate teams around Japan.
For the list below I’ll identify the player, team, and whatever other information I may have at hand about the player. Hope it’s useful for the fans!
I’l have Number – First Name – Last Name – Height, Weight, Birthday – Team.
There are 3 Japanese goalkeepers listed on the official site:
#1 Nozomi Yamago – 163cm, 61kg, January 16, 1975 – Plays for Urawa Reds Ladies in Saitama.
#12 Miho Fukumoto – 165cm, 66kg, October 2, 1983 – Okayama Yunogo Belle in Okayama.
#21 Ayumi Kaihori – 170cm, 64kg, September 4, 1986 – INAC Kobe Leonessa
The Defenders are:
#2 Yukari Kinga – 161cm, 53kg, May 2, 1964 – INAC Kobe Leonessa
#5 Kyoko Yano – 164cm, 55kg, June 3, 1984 – Urawa Red Diamond Ladies
#14 Megumi Kamionobe – 157cm, 54kg, March 15, 1986 – Albirex Niigata
#3 Azusa Iwashimizu – 162cm, 54kg, October 14, 1986 – NTV Beleza
#15 Aya Sameshima – 162cm, 53kg, June 16, 1987 – Boston Breakers (USA)
#16 Asuna Tanaka – 164cm, 52kg, April 23, 1988 – INAC Kobe Leonessa
The Midfielders are:
#10 Homare Sawa – 164cm, 55kg, September 6, 1978 – INAC Kobe Leonessa
#8 Aya Miyama – 157cm, 50kg, January 28, 1985 – Okayama Yunogo Belle
#9 Nahomi Kawasumi – 157cm, 50kg, September 23, 1985 – INAC Kobe Leonessa
#6 Mizuho Sakaguchi – 165cm, 58kg, October 15, 1987 – Albirex Niigata
#13 Rumi Utsugi – 168cm, 63kg, December 5, 1988 – Montpellier HSC (France)
The Forwards:
#7 Kozue Ando – 164cm, 57kg, July 9, 1982 – FCR 2001 Duisberg (Germany)
#18 Karina Maruyama – 163cm, 56kg, March 26, 1983 – JEF United Ichihara Chiba
#11 Shinobu Ohno – 154cm, 50kg, January 23, 1984 – INAC Kobe Leonessa
#17 Yuki Nagasato – 168cm, 60kg, July 15, 1987 – FFC Turbine Potsdam (Germany)
#19 Megumi Takase – 165cm, 59kg, November 10, 1990 – INAC Kobe Leonessa
#20 Mana Iwabuchi – 155cm, 52kg, March 18, 1993 – NTV Beleza
They are a great team with a lot of popularity in Japan. Nadeshiko Japan news can also be seen on the well-maintained Japan Football Association website.