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Lyon (AFP)
Japan midfielder Saki Kumagai has a particular reason to look forward to the first match of his country at the Women's World Cup: his adopted country is France.
Kumagai has been in Lyon since 2013 and has helped the French side to become Europe's leading force in women's club play.
Lyon won its fourth consecutive Champions League title last month, beating Barcelona 4-1 in the final.
The 28-year-old is now thinking about the challenge ahead with Japan, world champion in 2011 but beaten by the United States four years ago.
Japan opens its campaign against Argentina at Parc des Princes in Paris on Monday.
"I can not wait to get in. The World Cup is here in France, my second country," she said.
The extra motivation for Kumagai is that the final will be played in Lyon.
"It's a home game for me." The Groupama stadium in Lyon is my stadium, it would be really good, "she said.
"I can already imagine the atmosphere of the World Cup at this place, so it would be special to play there, for Japan but especially for me."
Japan's preparations were uneven and included a 3-1 defeat in France on French soil in April.
"Of course, we want to win the title and I want to play in the semifinal and the final in Lyon, but it will not be easy to go to the end.We will see what happens," he said. Kumagai said.
"Our preparation was good even if the results did not match what we were hoping for, we played three games in March and two more in April against good level opponents."
Kumagai chose France, which started convincingly defeating South Korea 4-0 on Friday, alongside the defending champions, the United States and England, as well as German.
The team transformed women's football in Japan by winning the World Cup in 2011 and Kumagai said today's team carries a heavy responsibility.
"We give the example to girls who play football and it is important to win the World Cup," she said.
? AFP 2019
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