Japanese Women’s Soccer Player: We Gave Our All, but the Gap with Team USA Is Real

On August 3rd, local time, in the women’s soccer quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics, Team Japan faced off against Team USA. The match ended in a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes, and in extra time, Rodman scored the winning goal, eliminating Japan from the tournament. Japanese player Miyabi Moriya, who played the entire match including extra time, spoke to reporters after the game.

In the first half, Team USA controlled possession, but Japan held firm with solid defense, blocking their attacks and looking for counterattack opportunities. Around the 30th minute, Japan created several good chances to score, coming very close to finding the back of the net.

At halftime, USA had a possession rate of 78%, while Japan had only 22%. However, from the content of the match, the gap between the two teams wasn’t as pronounced. Miyabi Moriya commented, “They did have a lot of the ball, but we didn’t let them have it easily. I think we made some progress.”

On the other hand, she also pointed out areas for improvement: “In the first half, we created a few shooting opportunities. If those shots had gone in, we might have taken the lead by one goal.” She added, “If you can’t capitalize on these small opportunities… Losing to Team USA, we painfully recognize the gap.”

Moriya, who fought tirelessly at both ends of the pitch for 120 minutes, summarized, “We fought until the end. I don’t want to have any regrets. If I had pushed harder, maybe I could have scored. Or if I had been more focused defensively… I don’t want to have any regrets, but I think I gave it my all.”