When Nadeshiko took the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it was a great boost for women’s football in Asia. The impressive thing was not so much the trophy, but how they got there.
It is a lesson in development for football and beyond.
The Japanese have been developing women’s football for a long time now. The largely amateur L-League started in 1989, and despite Japan having less than half the number of registered players as Australia, the L-League now boasts two divisions.
On top of this, the Japanese have the All Japan Women’s Championship, an open elimination cup tournament which has been running since 1980. It is something even our men’s competition has yet to achieve.
The most telling comments came before the World Cup final from US stalwart April Heinrichs, former coach of the US and now a member of FIFA’s technical study group.
“Their style isn’t three or four years old, this has been in place for 20 years, when I played against them at the 1991 World Cup,” she said.
“They are just getting rewarded for it now, they have evolved and are setting the standard.
“Teams like France and Japan are raising the bar, we have to credit these possession-orientated sides and their competitiveness makes every team improve.”
Twenty years – that is how long the Japanese have stuck to their development pathway in a bid for silverware. Twenty hard fought years. It is a stark reminder of the sheer timeframes that need to be employed to make a team a true global force, and the consistency from the game’s administrators that is required.
The success of the Nadeshiko also puts the Matildas’ Asian Cup victory into some much needed perspective. Overcoming Nadeshiko was no easy feat as Germany, Sweden and the USA can attest.
Our W-League is still young, and our players are young as well and they are trying to play the possession style football that at times works, and at others doesn’t.
However, if we wish to emulate the success of Nadeshiko we need to maintain the same long-term vision. Patience from the fanbase is important and we need to treat the Olympics as another stepping stone to developing a truly world-class team.
But this isn’t just a development lesson for women’s football, it is a lesson for football in general. We need the competitions, the game time and the development structures to succeed on the world stage. Then we need to persist and not throw our hands up in despair when immediate results are not forthcoming.
Such vision and attitude is exemplified by Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner Homare Sawa, Japanese captain and veteran of five World Cups.
“I cannot believe this. We never gave up and played until the last minute, I just kept running until the last moment. We have given all we had,” she said.
“I have always aimed to become world number one and it is hard to believe this is real, but I feel happy.”
A sentiment, no doubt, that is echoed across the continent.
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What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
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