{"id":576158,"date":"2026-03-31T11:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/576158\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:06:08","slug":"japans-saki-kumagai-i-try-to-pass-the-baton-to-the-next-generation-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/576158\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s Saki Kumagai: \u2018I try to pass the baton to the next generation\u2019 | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cRanking!?\u201d Saki Kumagai says with a laugh. In the afterglow of her team\u2019s Asian Cup triumph in Australia<\/a>, the veteran Japan defender is asked about where this trophy sits among the many other titles she has won throughout her staggering 17-year career.<\/p>\n

But she just smiles and shakes her head. \u201cI never compare my titles,\u201d she says. \u201cYes, I won some trophies in my career. But this team is from a different generation, so [winning] a trophy in this tournament, that was the really impressive thing for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t win four years ago. This national team is a new team and I hope that this makes us more confident and comfortable to play. I don\u2019t know where it ranks, but it means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new team is right. Kumagai, now 35, is the last remaining Japan player who remembers how it felt to lift the Women\u2019s World Cup in 2011<\/a>, becoming the first \u2013 and so far only \u2013 Asian nation to do so.<\/p>\n

She was just 21 when she started in the final against USA alongside some of football\u2019s greatest ever players: Homare Sawa, Yukari Kinga, Aya Miyama, Nahomi Kawasumi.<\/p>\n

Their penalty-shootout victory<\/a>, in which the young centre-back scored the winner, occurred just four months after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Japan. Footage of the black water and families scrambling for higher ground was used by the head coach, Norio Sasaki, in Germany to remind the team who, and what, they were playing for.<\/p>\n

But those memories are fading as Japan looks towards the future. Maika Hamano, the forward who scored the spectacular winner against Australia in Sydney, was just seven years old when Kumagai thrashed her penalty past Hope Solo. Toko Koga, her centre-back partner throughout this year\u2019s Asian Cup, was five. Riko Ueki, Japan\u2019s top scorer, was 12. Ayaka Yamashita, the best goalkeeper, was 15.<\/p>\n

Kumagai is sheepish when asked about her role as a mentor for these young players she now calls teammates: \u201cI didn\u2019t give that much advice to young players. But from my experience, playing in this noise, in big crowds, sometimes we cannot hear our teammates, so I tried to lead the team with how I played.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saki Kumagai celebrates with Azusa Iwashimizu after scoring the winning penalty against USA to win the World Cup in 2011. Photograph: Alex Livesey\/Fifa\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

She isn\u2019t surprised by their acceleration, though. This generational transition was all part of the plan. In 2005, the Japanese Football Federation announced their 50-year vision<\/a> for football, with three simple goals: grow the number of participants, improve their national teams\u2019 world rankings and to host \u2013 and win \u2013 a World Cup.<\/p>\n

While the men\u2019s side of the sport has evolved more slowly, the women\u2019s game has rocketed ahead. Roughly halfway through this 50-year plan, Japan sit fifth in the Fifa women\u2019s rankings, having followed their 2011 title with an Olympic silver medal, a second consecutive World Cup final appearance (2015), three Asian Cup trophies (2014, 2018, 2026), and the start of Asia\u2019s first full-time professional women\u2019s league in 2021.<\/p>\n

That bigger vision, and the football structures that are aligned beneath it, have now produced a Japan team that\u2019s not just speckled with young stars, but propelled by them.<\/p>\n

Kumagai is the last remaining link between the past and the future of Japanese women\u2019s football. Now playing for London City Lionesses in the WSL after successful stints with OL Lyonnes, Bayern Munich, and Roma, Asia\u2019s most decorated female footballer sees what the next decade of this dynasty looks like.<\/p>\n

She was once one of them, after all, and as her career winds down, she hopes to pass her own lessons and legacies to a new generation of players who, like those who came before them, will carry Japan back to the summit of the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of good young players,\u201d Kumagai says. \u201cThey have a lot of potential, and also a lot of confidence. There are many young players playing in Europe or overseas. They get a lot of playing-time and have good performances over there.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, as an experienced player, we try to make [the national team] a good environment for the next generation \u2026 I want to build team harmony. I\u2019ve experienced so many things, and while I am a player, I want to share a message or attitude [with] the young players coming into the team. I feel like that is my role: I try to pass the baton to the next generation to show them how to perform in these moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talking points<\/p>\n

Fifa\u2019s calendar crunch: Twenty-six AFC players were forced to miss crucial club matches last week due to the condensed scheduling of the international match calendar. Ellie Carpenter and Sam Kerr were absent for Chelsea\u2019s Champions League quarter-final match against Arsenal, which they lost 3-1<\/a>, due to the tight turn-around. Carpenter is one of many players who have called on Fifa to fix the calendar<\/a> so that players don\u2019t have to continue choosing between club and country.<\/p>\n

Ellie Carpenter in action for Chelsea in the Champions League this season. Photograph: Lisi Niesner\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Iran women\u2019s national team: They may have fallen out of the mainstream news cycle, but concerns are still swirling around the safety and welfare of Iran\u2019s women\u2019s national team. All but two players and staff returned to Iran after the Asian Cup, including five who had originally sought and were granted asylum in Australia. Activists have accused Iranian authorities of pressuring the players into changing their minds by threatening their families<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recommended viewing<\/p>\n

This absolute screamer of a free-kick<\/a> by New Zealand international Macey Fraser, whose Wellington Phoenix side lost 2-1 to Central Coast Mariners in the A-League Women. Despite the defeat, the New Zealand team coached by Bev Priestman sit second in the table and will contest their first ever finals series next month.<\/p>\n

Quote of the day<\/p>\n

double quotation markManchester Corinthians Ladies FC, through their unwavering spirit, talent and determination, blazed a trail for women\u2019s football around the world. We are sorry that a ban on women\u2019s football was introduced in 1921 and not revoked until 1971\u201d \u2013 the Football Association delivered an historic apology to the generations of women who defied the 50-year ban on women playing football throughout the 20th century. Despite the ban Corinthians played through the 1950s and 60s and featured in an international tournament in Reims in 1970. The competition involved teams from Italy, France, Czechoslovakia and England, with Juventus being the Italian representatives. Both Corinthians and Juventus progressed to the final at Stade de Reims, which the Manchester side won 1-0 with a goal from Linda Hallam.<\/p>\n

Manchester Corinthians players celebrate with the trophy following their victory at a tournament in Reims in 1970. Photograph: National Football MuseumStill want more?<\/p>\n

Denver Summit smashed the NWSL attendance record with 63,004 fans at Mile High Stadium. Read our report<\/a> of the draw with Washington Spirit.<\/p>\n

Catarina Macario has left Chelsea for the San Diego Wave in a deal worth $8m<\/a>, reportedly the largest deal by total value in women\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Suzanne Wrack exclusively revealed that landmark changes to insurance cover <\/a>for female athletes are to be implemented as part of the implementation of recommendations in the Carney review.<\/p>\n

And here are all the talking points<\/a> from the latest WSL weekend.<\/p>\n