All good things come to an end, as it will Wednesday for this Nadeshiko Japan team, which has spectacularly failed to qualify for the Olympics, just eight months removed from reaching its second consecutive Women's World Cup final.

It's being whispered that everyone from coach Norio Sasaki to captain and three-time women's Asian player of the year Aya Miyama to defender Yukari Kinga are on their way out after Wednesday's game against North Korea, the last of the qualifying competition for Rio de Janeiro.

While none would definitively speak about their future on Tuesday after their final training session of the qualifying competition, it appears the nucleus that helped build Nadeshiko's golden era and made Japan a superpower in the women's game may really pass on the torch.