Japan head coach Norio Sasaki said on Monday that the injury-free team is ready to take three points from their first opponent, New Zealand, at the Beijing Olympics women's soccer tournament.
"One of our players got a minor injury, but now she is fully recovered," he said. "Everyone of our 18 members is fit and healthy."
Aiming at entering the final, the Japanese team appeared to be quite confident. "Indeed we didn't play very well in last year's Women's World Cup, but we have learnt a lot from those games, and we have made a lot of progress since then."
"New Zealand is quite a young team. We have analyzed their strategies and we are well prepared," Sasaki said.
Japan arrived in co-host Qinhuangdao city late last month to get used to the climate and environment.
"We never thought about the weather while we were training," Japanese captain Hiromi Ikeda said. "We have played in much hotter conditions before. The weather has absolutely no impact on us."
Japan is going to play against New Zealand in the opening match of the Olympics on Wednesday, two days before the Games' opening ceremony.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)