AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup
The head coach was disappointed that his side couldn’t cope with the waves of pressure inflicted on them and even though Yumi Hayashi pulled a goal back to make it 2-1, the opportunity to make a comeback was quickly snuffed out.
#U17WAC - Final: DPR Korea 5 - 1 Japan
“We wanted to approach the game in a positive way but the manner in which DPR Korea played put us under a lot of pressure and we just couldn’t cope,” said Shirai.
“Yes, we scored one goal but right after, we started making mistakes. That caused the team to concede again.
“And because of that, now we has to focus more on offence and readjust the team again, which made the game difficult.”
Having also lost to DPR Korea in the final of the last edition, Shirai understands that the team must recover from the disappointment.
Looking ahead to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026 in November, the 45-year-old tactician knows exactly how Japan need to be competitive.
“Japan will face teams with a lot of intensity and pressure, just like how DPR Korea played and we need to cope with that, and we need to do that by playing our football. We also need to improve the quality of our attack.”
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