Our Game Magazine contacted former FC Gold Pride forward Eriko Arakawa prior to the earthquake and tsunami to get her take on the upcoming L1 League season. Arakawa, who plays for the Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies, responded this week.
Our Game Magazine: “What are your expectations for this season? How is the league is this year, and how it will be impacted with the Women’s World Cup?”
Eriko Arakawa: (translated from Japanese): “The earthquake and its aftermath have been a huge, serious issue in Japan. It is a situation that my team cannot also practice. Therefore, we don’t yet know how all of this will ultimately affect soccer in Japan.”
In other news, the owner the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) sponsors the TEPCO Mareeze women’s soccer team that plays in the L1 League in Japan. TEPCO Mareeze scrimmaged FC Gold Pride during the 2010 preseason. This past offseason, Boston Breakers players Taryn Hemmings and Claire Zimmeck trained with TEPCO Mareeze and left Japan to head back to Boston just two weeks prior to the earthquake.
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