Tag: Nahomi Kawasumi

The Unknown International: Nahomi Kawasumi

Posted on by RJ Allen

The NWSL may be the American women’s soccer league, but some of their strongest players come from all around the world. This series will look at some of those internationals that you may not know a lot about. Each article will highlight their style of play, the role they play on their national team, and the role they play in their club.

This time we will be looking at Japanese international and Seattle Reign forward Nahomi Kawasumi.

What Does She Do?

Nahomi Kawasumi is a forward that plays for the Japanese national team and the Seattle Reign. She is one of four Japanese internationals playing in the NWSL: Yuri Kawamura plays for the North Carolina Courage; Yuki Nagasato plays for the Chicago Red Stars; and Rumi Utsugi is Kawasumi’s teammate for both club and country. Kawasumi has no problem scoring goals of her own, but currently she leads the NWSL with six assists on the season. Prior to playing for the Seattle Reign, she played for Japanese side Kobe Leonessa in the INAC.

Japanese National Team

Kawasumi was a member of the Japanese team when they won the World Cup in 2011 and when they were the runners-up in 2015. In addition, she took home a silver medal with her team at the 2012 London Olympics. While she has been a member of the team since 2008, she scored her first international goal against Finland in the 2011 Algarve Cup. She then scored two goals in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Sweden after her team went down 1-0 early in the match. In her time on the national team, she has scored 20 goals in 80 appearances for Japan. She isn’t a consistent starter, but she has played with the squad for nearly a decade and definitely left an impact in critical moments.

Seattle Reign

Kawasumi has played for the Reign for the last two seasons. But perhaps her most impactful game came earlier this season in the team’s 6-2 victory over the Washington Spirit. She scored a goal of her own and tallied four assists in the match, completely dominating the Spirit defense. Last season, she scored three goals in ten appearances for the squad. So far, she has six assists and four goals in fourteen appearances this year. She is part of an attack that is unstoppable when they get going. But their performances this season have been inconsistent. Kawasumi and her teammates will need to find some consistency if they hope to make the playoffs.

The Unused Sub: No, I Don’t Know Where Mallory Pugh Is Going

Posted on by RJ Allen

… but a gambling syndicate in southeast Asia probably has a good line on it.

Hey, guess what? I’m back for another installment of The Unused Sub.

So no questions for me to tackle? I’m serious about @-ing me on Twitter (@jacobcristobal) for a question. Hell, it doesn’t have to be about soccer. The more random, the better. The brain’s gotta make room for other things now and then, and sometimes those other things are a needed distraction from things that suck.

Speaking of …

THE SOCCER GODS ARE HORRIBLE, AWFUL MONSTERS HELL BENT TO TAKE AWAY THINGS WE LIKE

Yes, you evil bastards that have to go and jack up opening weekend for us and destroy the ACLs of Joanna Lohman (Washington Spirit) and Amy Rodriguez (FC Kansas City). Seriously, that is some diabolical hater shit and blah blah blah blah injuries can happen at anytime, but c’mon. Opening weekend?!  After we had been waiting 84 years for the NWSL to come back?

Some seriously cold shit you soccer gods are doing. What’s next, you’re gonna tell me that nonsense of you can’t put pineapple on pizza?

Seriously though, to Joanna Lohman & Amy Rodriguez – stay strong and may you two have speedy and full recoveries. The game is better with you two on the field and as ambassadors for it off the field.

 

WHAT’S WITH ALL THE SCREAMING ABOUT STREAMING

Yes, opening weekend there were some hiccups with the go90 platform on opening weekend. Should they be taken as deal breakers and everyone flips tables and goes, “NOPE I’M THRU WITH YOU NWSL & GO90?”

G. O. D. N. O.

Yes, it wasn’t fun seeing a placeholder graphic for a commercial break interrupting a live stream – but perhaps it was something originating from the broadcast location and not necessarily the app itself. It’s easy to be thousands of miles away from the source and armchair manage and think the sky is falling. Yes, it was annoying that the full game replays weren’t archived properly until yesterday – but was waiting that extra day really the crime of the century? All the screaming from the hills about doubting this streaming platform the NWSL went with really was a bit much. Honestly a lot of it sounded like screaming just for the sake of screaming because it’s easier to rile people up. Yes, come this weekend’s game I will have higher expectation that whatever issues go90 encountered on opening weekend will have been fixed and everything will work as advertised, but let’s try not to hold it like a personal grudge that folks from either the NWSL or go90 broke into your house and ate your cupcake.

Or as my man Tetsuya Naito would say…Relax, take it easy!

 

THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF

Sitting in the press conference room after Seattle Reign FC & Sky Blue FC played to a 1-1 draw, Sky Blue FC head coach Christy Holly was first to do his post-match presser. I gotta say, he is one sharp dressed man, and his sweater game that Saturday night was on point. Watch your lunch money Mark Parsons, because you just might have some competition as who is the best-dressed gentleman in the NWSL.

Here’s Reign FC forward Nahomi Kawasumi throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Wednesday’s Seattle Mariners game. The pitch looked like a changeup and a good one at that.

Houston Dash’s Rachel Daly won Goal of the Week and rightfully so. Look at this- it’s evil, cold-blooded, rude as hell and I love it and have watched it many times. I understand fair elections and all but there was really no point in putting it up to a poll this week.

Haley Kopmeyer won NWSL Player of the Week for putting the team on her back and keeping it possible for them to get a point against Sky Blue. Her winning the honor extends Reign FC’s lead on having won more Player of the Week awards than any other NWSL club to date. Don’t believe me? Here’s the chart I made logging every single NWSL Player of the Week in the league’s five-year history.

https://twitter.com/jacobcristobal/status/854516726272114688

MY WEEK 2 PREDICTIONS LIKE I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT

  • Chicago Red Stars OVER FC Kansas City
  • Orlando Pride OVER Washington Spirit
  • North Carolina Courage & Portland Thorns DRAW
  • Seattle Reign FC OVER Houston Dash
  • Boston Breakers OVER Sky Blue FC

Yep, you read that right. I’m picking Boston Breaker’s, last season’s basement team, to win over Sky Blue this week. Send all accolades or hate mail to @jacobcristobal on Twitter and we can hash it out.

So that’s it for this week’s installment. Tune in next week to see me reflect on how wrong I was in my picks. No matter what, though, I’m glad the season is underway. Lots of changes, most of them for the better in the bigger picture things. Still, the more things change, the more things stay the same – looking at you NWSL “Save” of the Week, LOL.