On Sunday 10 March, the JFA 24th Japan Futsal Championship Final took place at Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Indoor Ball Sports Field.

The final fixture featured the 2018/2019 season F League Division 1 Champions Nagoya Oceans and Tachikawa/Fuchu Athletic F.C. who finished third in the league.

With Nagoya having a wealthy pool of players, they elected to bench HOSHI Shota who started in the semi-final match and named HIRATA Neto Antonio Masanori in the starting line-up. In the early minutes of the match, it was Hirata who created a close opportunity, as his shot struck the crossbar. With momentum on their side, Nagoya took the lead with PEPITA’s powerful shot in the ninth minute. With 23 seconds left on the clock in the first half, Nagoya managed to double their lead when LUIZINHO converted a pass from WALTINHO.

While Tachikawa/Fuchu struggled to deal with the fatigue from the tight match schedule, Nagoya took full advantage of their bench strength. In the 26th minute, YOSHIKAWA Tomoki’s cut back induced an own goal. Three minute later, Luizinho struck a powerful shot with his right foot to make it 4-0.

In efforts to score a goal, Tachikawa/Fuchu initiated their power-play with KANYAMA Tetsuichi wearing the goalkeeper’s jersy but couldn’t find ways to break through the opposing defence. Nagoya’s goalkeeper SHINODA Ryuma later mentioned, “We weren’t able to keep a clean sheet in all of the matches I played this season, so I really wanted to earn positive results in our final match.” In the closing minutes of the match, the leading scorer of the F League 2018.2019 season Waltinho added two more goals to make it 6-0, as the Nagoya Oceans won the final in a convincing fashion.

With their back-to-back win and sixth overall title at the Japan Futsal Championship, Nagoya has showcased their dominance by achieving the triple crown in consecutive years with their F League title and League Cup win. In the press-conference held after the final, Coach Pedro COSTA announced his resignation as well as SAKAI Rafael Yoshio’s retirement.

Shriker Osaka was awarded with the fair-play award, while Nagoya’s NISHITANI Ryosuke was named as the tournament MVP.

Coaches and Players' Comments

Pedro COSTA, Coach (Nagoya Oceans)
We were able to finish the season perfectly by winning the title. In this Japan Futsal Championship, every single match was a tough bout, not just the semi-final and final. We really fought through some tough stretches, and that process has allowed us to prevail at the end. It was a wonderful 40 minutes we played today. The players stayed focused and played aggressively from the first second until the very last second of the match. My career with the Nagoya Oceans will end after this season, but I have no regrets. I am able to finish off the time with the team in a truly happy feeling.

TANIMOTO Shunsuke, Coach (Tachikawa/Fuchu Athletic F.C.)
It’s disappointing that we couldn’t score any goals today, but even if we did score two or three goals, we still wouldn’t have been able to stop Nagoya from taking the title. Prior to the match, our game plan was to defend compactly and anticipate for our opportunities to counter attack. We were pretty confident in our ability to evade the pressure in offence, so we were waiting for our opportunity to come, but we spent too much time in defence today. We had an opportunity to level the match after conceding the first goal, but we weren’t able to capitalise and that turned out to be a critical moment for us.

NISHITANI Ryosuke (Nagoya Oceans)
Similar to our semi-final match against Osaka, we managed to take control of the ball and build our plays facing the goal. I feel like we were able to control the match well today, including our fouls. We have very talented and enthusiastic players on our team. If we have missed any of our teammates, we probably wouldn’t be winning these three titles. I honestly wasn’t expecting to win the MVP award. I truly feel like this is an award given by my teammates, and I am grateful to be awarded with such honourable award.

SHINODA Ryuma (Nagoya Oceans)
In the three years under Coach Pedro Costa, we struggled mightily in the first year (won zero titles for the first time), but I feel like those struggles has really paid off. We failed to win our 10th straight league title, but it gave us the opportunity to commit ourselves to rebuild the team, which allowed us to win back to back triple crown. It was truly a blessed season. Regardless of either I was on the pitch or on the bench, I am confident that I was able to find my role and contribute for the team. I didn’t play at the play-off final, but I played in all the matches in this tournament. I was prepared to give my best at all times, and (SEKIGUCHI) Yushi and I were always competing to heighten each other for the past two years.

[Highlights] Final 3/10 15:00 kick-off
Nagoya Oceans (F1/1st) vs Tachikawa/Fuchu Athletic F.C. (F1/3rd)

JFA 24th Japan Futsal Championship

Quarterfinals - Final
Tournament Dates: Fri. 8 - Sun. 10 March
Venue: Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Indoor Ball Sports Field, Tokyo

Tournament Information