10 January, The 6th All Japan Youth (U-15) Women's Futsal Tournament kicked off at Sky Hall Toyota, Aichi. This is the same venue as the men’s futsal championship. 9 matches of the first round were held and the top 4 teams qualified for the semi final matches on the same day.

While there were intensive matches from the beginning of the first round, Maruoka Ruck Ladies (Kitashinetsu/Fukui) and Shrine Ladies FC (Tohoku/Aomori) went through the first round by winning consecutive matches.

Maruoka was in Group A and their first match was against Scarab Oita U-15 (Kyushu/Oita). In the 5th minute, IKEUCHI Aki made the first goal and she added another 3 goals in the 2nd half. The team conceded only 1 goal and the match ended 4-1.

Their other match against Club Fields Linda (Hokkaido) was a challenging game, and it was 0-0 until the 14th minute; ARAI Ichika scored successfully after a brilliant combination and that decided the match. Maruoka qualified for the semi final by these consecutive wins in the first round.

The Group B was competitive. Cana Cravo FC (Kanto/Chiba) drew their first match against Tokushima Lateesha (Shikoku/Tokushima) 2-2. Their second match against FC Vitoria (Kansai/Osaka) also ended in a draw by being equalised at the end.

The match between Tokushima Lateesha and FC Vitoria became the key to decide the top team. Eventually, FC Vitoria who was trying to get the title after 2 years achieved a comeback victory; the 1st half ended 1-2 but they added 2 more goals in the 2nd half. They will move on to the semi final for the first time since they previously did in 2014.

Shrine Ladies FC (Tohoku/Aomori) of the Group C showed its strength in offence from the first match against FFC Wenesu (Chugoku/Okayama). The team’s OSANAI Akari and SAKURABA Kotono scored 2 goals each in the 1st half and they kept attacking in the 2nd half. They got total 6 goals and won the match 6-2. Their second match was against Rainbow Tarui U-15 Ladies (Tokai/Gifu) and in the 15th minute when the score was 5-4, Sakuraba’s shot could find the net and that decided the team’s victory. Sakuraba scored 4 goals which meant she was one of the top goal scorers.

One more team to go – it depended on the result of two matches: Scarab Oita U-15 vs Club Fields Linda from Group A, and FFC Wenesu vs Rainbow Tarui U-15 Ladies from Group C. While they had not only to win but also to get as many goals as they could, Club Fields Linda had an advantage with -1 point. However, the other teams still had the chance to qualify: Scarab Oita U-15 with -3, FFC Wenesu with -4, and Rainbow Tarui U-15 Ladies with -2.

These 2 matches started at the same time; Club Fields Linda defended against Scarab Oita U-15’s offence and beat them 3-1, while the other match ended 2-2. At the moment when Club Fields Linda got to know that they could go through, the team’s substitute players raised their voices with excitement.

For the semi final matches, Maruoka Ruck Ladies faces FC Vitoria, whereas Shrine Ladies FC plays against Club Fields Linda. Since all of these teams have high skill and good combination, both matches are expected to be intensive. Which team will be the top of this competition in the end?

Coach and Players' Comments

TANAKA Etsuhiro, Coach (Maruoka Ruck Ladies)
This time, we have challenged only with 14-years-old players, trying to copy national level top players. They believed that the second match against Club Fields Linda would be the key and they played very well with strong mentality. All the other teams are strong, but I expect them to keep working hard with our tough mentality – that’s what they chase.

NUNOKAWA Kumi, Coach (Club Fields Linda)
We had known that we had to beat Maruoka Ruck Ladies to move on and we prepared well for that. It was very shocking for us to concede the goal in the last 3 minutes of the match. However, they switched their mind well for the next one and did their best. The players share the bitter feeling of their ex-teammates when they couldn’t manage to get the title and were runners up for the previous 2 years, and that was their motivation to come to this competition. I believe that they will do as much as they can in the final round. I expect them to have a good sense of switching from defence to attack.

ITO Takafumi, Coach (Rainbow Tarui U-15 Ladies)
The players’ fitness is not high, but they are good particularly in dribbling and this time I got to know that their skill in fending off and in controlling the ball was national level. However, it has been only 2 years since we launched the team and it was our first experience in playing in national level competition, and I think this can be the reason we conceded many goals and could not win. We still have 14 years old players and even younger ones, so we keep working for them trying our best to come back to this level of competition for the future.

WATANABE Hibiki (FC Vitoria)
We knew how this championship goes on since 6 players had experienced it last year. However, we couldn’t play as we wanted in the first match due to being nervous, and the match ended in a draw. It was good that we could win in the second one. Before the matches, we could release our nervousness by enjoying warm-up exercises. We are a good team with good and positive communication. All of us have a strong mentality to get the title, so we will do our best getting united well in the final round.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

All Japan Youth (U-15) Women's Futsal Tournament

Final Live distribution
Mon. 11 January 12:00 kick-off (tbd)
Live distribution (Japanese version only)

Sun. 10 January 2016 - Mon. 11 January 2016
Aichi／Sky Hall Toyota
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