The Albany Gazette - Humble Japan ready to win hearts at Women's Asian Cup

The tournament kicks off on Sunday and Japan are among the favourites, with a talented squad featuring no fewer than 16 England-based players and a reputation for fast, exciting football.

Australian fans will get behind their own team in huge numbers but Nielsen thinks Japan's style and personality will win them a place in locals' hearts.

"They are a joy to watch because they are technically very strong, and that's the style we are trying to encourage," the 54-year-old told AFP at Japan's training centre outside Tokyo.

"It's fun to watch because we are not dominating physically, so if you have the right set-up, we can be beaten.

"It's always fun to watch a small person do incredible things," he added.

Japan are the only Asian country to have won the Women's World Cup but they have only lifted the Asian Cup twice in 20 editions of the competition. The last time was in 2018.

They should sail through a first-round group that also includes Taiwan, Vietnam and India.

Nielsen became Japan's first foreign-born women's team coach in December 2024 and the former Denmark and Switzerland women's boss said he was "enjoying every day" in the job.

"Not only because the country is so nice, but also because of the players' personalities," he said.

"They are really hardworking, really humble, very curious about learning new things, so they have all the ingredients it takes."

- 'Not for sale' -

Nielsen's squad includes only four players from Japan's domestic WE League, with most based in the top leagues of Europe and North America.

The coach knows English football well from his previous job as Manchester City's women's team technical director, where he worked with current Japan captain Yui Hasegawa.

Nielsen says midfielder Hasegawa can be Japan's most important player at the Asian Cup.

"She's extremely ambitious and she doesn't care about making friends with everybody, and that's why we made her captain," he said of the 29-year-old.

"She has anticipation like nobody else I have seen, she can predict what's going to happen next without any help, and she can bring it to the other players."

Nielsen is less complimentary about US President Trump, who has argued that Washington needs to control Greenland -- an autonomous Danish territory -- for American national security.

The coach was born in the island's capital Nuuk and he said that Greenland was "not for sale".

"I hope that everything will come out OK," said Nielsen.

"But I think, why would you pick on the smallest boy in the class? And that's what he's doing.

"So, no respect from my side. He should be thrown out of office."

- Team first -

Nielsen thinks Trump could take a lesson in humility from his players.

"If you look at the SheBelieves Cup last year, Mina Tanaka was the best player in the tournament, and all she could talk about was the team," he said.

"I don't see many of those kind of characters in the top end of football."

Nielsen hopes that attitude will bring Japan success in Australia, where they reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2023.

Japan won the World Cup in 2011 and went close to adding more major honours in the years that followed, but they have not gone past the last eight of a World Cup or Olympics since 2015.

"Japan are much better when they have the ball," said Nielsen.

"They are much better when they are trying to play forward whenever it's possible and use the speed of thought that they have.

"So I think returning more to that style of play, that's what we are aiming to do."

(F.Jackson--TAG)