Marvel in the Making

A Group C interview with the Liverpool midfielder before her first senior World Cup, under Futoshi Ikeda, the coach who led her to an Under-20 world title in 2018. Nagano says the tournament has always been the goal, and that a strong Japanese result would lift understanding and support for the women’s game at home, where public attention still lags. She compares dressing-room cultures, finding Japanese players quieter than their English and American counterparts, describes settling at Liverpool with Google Translate and a manager whose accent she finds the hardest in the squad, and names Xavi as her model. On facing physically stronger nations, she argues Japan cannot match them that way and must instead be smarter.