After his team won the biggest title in women's Asian football, coach Nils Nelson said that Japan fully deserved it. Japan defeated Australia 1-0 on home soil to win the Women's Asian Cup. 

Speaking to the media the next day, coach Nelson claimed that the Japanese team would be an inspiration to others. No one had been able to touch Japan on their way to the final. Australia, on the other hand, gave the team a strong challenge, but Maika Hamano's long-range goal in the 17th minute was the decisive difference between the two teams in front of 74,000 spectators. 

Nelson, who has also coached Denmark and Switzerland, said, "It is also a pleasure for me to work with the Japanese players. They are very good footballers." He has been with the Japanese team since 2024. Nelson added, "That is why I think the Japanese team can be an inspiration to many others. Japanese players are so talented that they have developed a unique style. In the final, we could not play with our own rhythm. But the characteristics of the players made us better than our opponents. Japanese players are also very hardworking.'

Coach Nelson added, 'In football, it is not enough to be good. Winning is the only achievement if you want to prove something to someone. As long as you cannot win a big title, it means nothing. We could not play our best in the final. But because of our game, we were present in it strongly. It had been a long time since Japan won this title, so this success is special.'

Japan, ranked sixth in the world, was a strong candidate for the title in the final. However, the stadium was filled with Australian fans full of national spirit. Australia itself was also trying to win its first title since 2010. The final itself could have gone in anyone's favor at any time. But in the end, the victory went to Japan. The team managed to add another title after 2014 and 2018. Coincidentally, the opposing team in both the finals was Australia. Moreover, the win-loss score was the same. Coach Nelson did not forget to praise the Australian team. He said, ‘The Australian team is world-class, the players are equally good.’ 

Australian coach Joe Montemurro also said that his team’s journey in this competition was excellent in itself. However, the title was not in his team’s favor. Trying to forget the painful defeat in the final, he said that he will now focus on the World Cup in Brazil in 2027. He said, ‘I had 26 warriors recently, they played as well as they could for 21 days. All this is a huge achievement for me. Sometimes the result is in our favor, sometimes it is not. We have reached the final by playing against a big team. This is also our goal.’