Arsenal Ladies completed the first leg of their 10-day Japan tour on Sunday with a friendly match against Musashigaoka College.
The Gunners ran out 5-0 winners, with goals from Jordan Nobbs, Danielle Carter, Freda Ayisi, Carla Humphrey and Emma Mitchell. The match saw the recently re-signed Lianne Sanderson make her first appearance for the Gunners since 2008.
Arsenal Ladies v Musashigaoka College
Pedro Martinez Losa's team has spent the past three days in Kumagaya, with a series of light training sessions helping the players adapt to the nine-hour time difference and ready themselves for this week’s International Women’s Club Championship.
Away from their preparations for the tournament, the Ladies have used the stay to meet young football fans and soak up some of the local culture.
The players dropped in on a girls’ football tournament on Saturday afternoon. Casey Stoney led a warm-up for the girls, with Sanderson’s selfie stick coming in useful for group pictures with the excited youngsters.
The Gunners were then guests of honour at a welcome dinner at Musashigaoka College. Arsenal Ladies have a long-standing relationship with the school, having hosted their students for summer football camps for the past 18 years.
The team were treated to a dinner of sukiyaki – a hot pot of beef and vegetables dipped in raw whisked egg.
Sunday morning saw Arsenal host a coaching session for 80 high school students, the Ladies mixing in with the young players for some small-sided games.
The Gunners now travel to Urawa, their base for the tournament. They will play Okayama Yunogo Belle at Field Nishigaoka in Tokyo on Wednesday, kick-off 7.05pm local time.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
