Japan inspiration spurs Arsenal's Ludlow

Five years on winning the UEFA Women's Cup, Arsenal LFC are hoping to clinch their second European title – and have gained fresh strength from a winter visit to Japan.

Having booked a UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final, starting this Wednesday at home to Göteborg FC, and clinched the English treble, Arsenal flew off to Japan at the end of November for a tour which included a 1-1 draw against INAC Kobe, home to several 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup winners. Midfielder Jayne Ludlow has 12 years' Arsenal experience but this one was new.

"We managed a 1-1 draw against their champions but the tempo and pace of their football was brilliant – it's something we want to strive for and achieve every week," Ludlow told UEFA.com. "As a nation they are the nicest people I've ever met. When they get on a football pitch they enjoy everything they do, but they're so competitive. I think we can learn a lot from them. When they step out in a World Cup final they are still smiling."

Since lifting the European trophy in 2007, Arsenal have never failed to reach the last eight but equally are yet to make another final. However, their young team has now grown in experience and the return of Kelly Smith and Alex Scott has further boosted Arsenal's bid.

"We lost seven or eight players from [the 2007] team, had to bring in some youngsters, and we've had to put them in positions for which they might not have been ready," Ludlow said. "But they've got that experience now, so they'll be more confident in those situations. Whoever we play in Europe, we go out trying to win."

Arsenal were beaten in the semis by Olympique Lyonnais 11 months ago to dash their hopes of playing in the final in London, but a date at the Olympiastadion in Munich this May would do Ludlow just fine. "It is an achievement I would like before I retire to get to another one of those finals," the 33-year-old Wales captain said. "To say you're in the best club team in Europe is the pinnacle.

"As you get older you appreciate things more. Now I step on a football pitch I try to enjoy everything I do because I know I haven't got that much time left. Try and follow the Japanese way of enjoying football and smiling."