Quotes: USA-Japan - FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP
Jill Ellis, USA coach
After 15 minutes, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. We wanted to put them under pressure right from the start, and everything fell into place perfectly. To be honest, I couldn’t really have imagined things turning out better. However, I did know that my players were capable of doing something exceptional. That’s what they were born to do. The greater the pressure on their shoulders, the more they perform at a higher level. My backroom staff also did a fantastic job. We have a lot of respect for Japan, but tonight we were completely focused and were able to adapt our style of play perfectly.
Norio Sasaki, Japan coach
My players have given their all in every match, and overall they’ve had a great tournament here in Canada. Today, though, the Americans were simply too strong. In the first few minutes, it seemed as if every shot ended up in the back of the net. But we never gave up fighting for our supporters in the stadium and back home in Japan. We’re proud of our performances. Four years ago, we won in Germany and in doing so we really gave the development of women’s football in Japan a big boost. This time around, we reached the final, and I hope that this will lead to a new period of growth for the game. I would like to congratulate the Americans and thank the Canadians, who organised a superb tournament. USA are on top right now, and it’s up to us to emulate them. Women’s football in Japan is far from finished.
