The last Nadeshiko standing: Captain Kumagai Saki carrying Japan's hopes and more into FIFA Women's World Cup 2023
As the last remaining player to have experienced Nadeshiko Japan's 2011 triumph, the three-time World Cup veteran and Olympic medallist is set to shoulder her country once again in Australia-New Zealand - but with a lot at stake.
Football
There’s a lot riding on the shoulders of Japan's women's football captain Saki Kumagai. A lot.
From having to carry her team at the fast-approaching FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 to passing on the 2011 championship DNA to the next generation of Nadeshikos and to playing for her long-time friend Iwabuchi Mana, who did not make the cut for Australia-New Zealand in a surprise omission.
Not to mention, all this could very well potentially impact the future of women’s football in Japan.
But Kumagai is up for it.
“When (coach Ikeda Futoshi) told me I was captain, face to face, I told him I am ready for the responsibility,” Kumagai said on Monday (3 July) following training at the national training facility in Chiba.
“There will be things I have to do, things I have to say. I’ll have to look out for the interests of the entire team.
“I want the team to be able to look back and say that they were glad Kumagai was our captain. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure that happens.”
At 32, Kumagai is the oldest of Ikeda’s 23 for the 20 July-20 August tournament, a veteran of three World Cups.
With Iwabuchi out, the centre-half has become the last hold-over from the Japan women's team - nicknamed Nadeshiko - who made a dramatic run to the 2011 title following the M9.1 Great East Japan Earthquake that crippled the country.
Kumagai has skippered Japan since 2017. On top of lifting the cup in Germany 12 years ago - Kumagai converted the winning penalty in the shootout of the final against the United States - she also helped them to a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
At club level, Kumagai is a five-time winner of the European Women’s Champions League with Lyon, having completed the treble four times.
She won the Frauen Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich this past season, and has signed for Italian side Roma - her fourth European club - for the post-World Cup campaign.
Ikeda’s faith in her remains unwavering, and rightfully so.
“I said it at the team meeting but this World Cup, we’re fighting behind Kumagai,” Ikeda said.
“I told her that directly. She has leadership and can communicate with everyone. On and off the pitch, I’m counting on her to keep us together.
“We won in 2011 and as long as we’re in this thing, we’re going for it. We’ll just take it one match at a time and our goal for starters is to do better than last time.”
Japan are trying to regain relevance on the international stage after crashing out in the round of 16 at the 2019 World Cup in France and being eliminated in the quarter-finals at Tokyo 2020.
Recently, it hasn't exactly been a bull market for Japanese women’s soccer with noticeably empty seats at domestic league games, and Japan still remains without a broadcaster for this World Cup, kicking off in 17 days, due to a money dispute.
Japan Football Association technical director Sasaki Norio, who was coach of the Nadeshiko in 2011, said the importance of Japan’s result this summer cannot be overstated.
A poor World Cup could even decimate the popularity of the women's game in Japan.
“How the women’s game spreads hinges a lot on how the Nadeshiko do,” Sasaki said. “The World Cup, the Olympics are huge in that regard.
“I can’t begin to say how much well suited Japanese women are to football. They have all the right qualities, and we need the public to come to appreciate that.
“Asia needs to do its part in pushing women’s soccer. Not just us but China, South Korea, too, it’s an opportunity for us to make a run.”
If Japan should make a run in New Zealand from a group including Spain, Costa Rica, and Zambia, Kumagai will have to do so without her partner in crime Iwabuchi, who had been a key piece to the side at the last three World Cups.
Ikeda has not gone into the specifics of why he dropped the Tottenham Hotspur striker but it is believed he opted for the fountain of youth over experience.
Kumagai admits she will miss Iwabuchi but that will not impede her from doing what needs doing. If anything, Kumagai seems more determined in trying to help the Nadeshiko back to prominence.
For Iwabuchi. For all of Japan. And for the women’s game.
“Mana, we’re similar in age and I’ve played with her since our youth days. I will play for her in spirit and she said she’d support us, cheer us on from home,” Kumagai said.
“I just have go out there and do it, show how I feel on the pitch. It’s all I can do.
“It’s time to go to work. We have to make every moment count and we need to start coming together as a team. We need to push each other, pick each other up.
“Body and soul, we need to become one.”
Been there, done that: Kumagai Saki lifting one of her five Women's Champions League trophies with Lyon.