PALEMBANG, Indonesia, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan's women's football coaches said on Thursday that the Asian Games final on Friday will be a challenge for both teams.
The coaches spoke highly of each other in a pre-match press conference.
"We know that Japan is one of the best teams in Asia and around the world. They are very disciplined. Our team also has our own style, we believe that tomorrow we are going to have an exciting match," China's coach Jia Xiuquan said.
Chinese midfielder, Li Mengwen, said her teammates were 100 percent ready for the final.
"We will be in for a tough match. We are not afraid, we are confident," she said.
Japan was the winner of the 2018 Asia Football Federation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup held in April in Jordan; it's their second consecutive title after winning in 2014. China finished third after Japan and Australia.
Japan won the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games women's football gold medal and was the runner up at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
China's women's football team won gold medals in three consecutive Asian Games in 1990, 1994 and 1998 and finished as the runner-up in 2002.
"The China team that we know here is totally different from the one in the Asian Cup. They are now stronger. We will concentrate for the final," Japan's coach Asako Takemoto said.
"They can bear difficult times throughout the 90 minutes. It is going to be a difficult match for us tomorrow," Asako added.
Japanese midfielder Yui Hasegawa said that her team has seen the significant improvement of their opponents, particularly after China defeated the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2-0 on their way to the final.
China secured their place in the final after stopping Thailand and Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Japan topped its qualifying group and defeated DPRK and South Korea in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively to get into the final.
The Asian Games women's football final will be held at 6.30 p.m. local time.
