Friday 5 August saw the second day of the first round of the 3rd All Japan Youth (U-18) Futsal Tournament. The top 8 teams advancing to the final round were decided.

In Group A, Yasu High School (Kansai 1/ Shiga) has already qualified for the final round. To decide the other team from this group to go through to the next round, Sakuyo High School (Chugoku 2/ Okayama) played against Seiwa Gakuen High School Football Club SC (Hosting area/ Miyagi). First half ended scoreless. However, after the break, Sakuyo High School scored 3 goals and won the match, advancing to the final round with 6 points.

Yasu High School was beaten by Nichinangakuen High School (Kyushu 2/ Miyazaki) 0-4. However, they won the head-to-head match against Sakuyo High School who qualified with the same points. They finished in the top spot of Group A.

Group B was intense. At first, Hokuseigakuen Univ. High School (Hokkaido 1) beat Vinculo Oita U-18 (Kyushu 1/ Oita) 4-0 at Xebio Arena Sendai and got 6 points. They qualified for the final round and Shriker Osaka U-18 (Kansai 2/ Osaka) and Takamatsu Commercial High School (Shikoku/ Kagawa) competed for the other spot to go through. 

Shriker Osaka U-18 ended the first half 2-1, they then shifted FP KAZUMORI Ryota to goleiro, initiating their powerful attacking play with all 5 players. However, they conceded 2 goals allowing the opponents to take the lead. However, Shriker Osaka gradually settled in and FP OHNO Itsuki scored 2 goals and turned the game around. They won the match 4-3.

As a result, all three top teams had 6 points. The results of the matches amongst each other decided the two teams to go through: Hokuseigakuen Univ. High School as the top team, and Takamatsu Commercial High School as the second. The third-placed Shriker Osaka U-18 did not qualify. For the first time, all of the teams which will play in the final round are not feeder teams of F League.

Group C saw the remaining four matches. Chuogakuin High School (Kanto 2/ Chiba) qualified after three consecutive wins in the group. As the second-place team, Hokkaido Kushiro Konan High School (Hokkaido 3) went through. Hero FC U18F (Tokai/ Shizuoka) had already been beaten twice before the last match but they defeated Seiwagakuen Football Club FC (Tohoku/ Miyagi) and finished third of the group.

In Group D, two first-match winners, Footboze Futsal U-18 (Kanto 1/ Tokyo) and Teikyo Nagaoka High School (Kitashinetsu/ Niigata), won their second and qualified for the final round before their last game. 

The third sec. decided the rankings of this group. Shirakabagakuen High School (Hokkaido 2) who had lost the second match against Footboze Futsal U-18 by conceding three goals within two minutes, defeated Yoshika High School (Chugoku 1/ Shimane) 15-1 and finished third. Teikyo Nagaoka High School beat Footboze Futsal U-18 in a group decider 4-0, advancing to the final in first place.

On Saturday 6 August, four quarterfinals and two semifinals will be played and two finalists will be decided.

Coach and Players' Comments

TAKADA Kaito (Hokusei Gakuen Univ. High School)
Most of all, I am happy that we qualified for the final round. Including all the support we had, it was great that we were able to fight and win together as a team. When we defeated Shriker Osaka U-18, our teamwork was superb and coaching centred around our assistant coach UENO Kohei was excellent.

In the previous match, we conceded a goal in the beginning, so we were even more focused, not allowing any goals today. We did well attaining that objective. We have been working hard to win this championship and will keep doing so until the end.

ANZAI Masaki (Takamatsu Commercial High School)
From running regularly while playing football, I feel confident about my fitness. In the match against Shriker Osaka U-18, we weren’t thinking about how to advance to the final round. The only thing we kept talking amongst ourselves was winning the last match of the first round.

The majority of us have been playing together since the last year’s competition and we became close friends. It enables us to play united as a team. In our football training, we incorporated futsal once a week. Quick transition from offence to defence (conversely from defence to offense) in futsal turns out to be also pertinent in football.

Our objective is to win the title, but for now we are trying our best, taking one game at the time.

KUBOHORI Hirokazu, Coach (Shriker Osaka U-18)
When we had a meeting in the changing room, we talked about what we should have done in the first match, losing 1-5. In order for us to qualify for the next round, we had to score 5 more goals than the opponents. When we analysed the opposing team, we were evenly matched. We needed something drastic in order to change the flow of the game. From the second half, we used power play in attempt to disrupt the opponent’s rhythm, but ended up breaking our own. This was my fault.

After the match, I told them that they had a very good experience and it will be an important asset in the future. However, they should not be satisfied and keep working hard to become a professional player.

MATSUDA Jun (Footboze Futsal U-18)
Teikyo Nagaoka High School was very strong. Given the tight schedule, playing our second match of the day, it was a difficult game for us. We had to play against them with a younger line-up then we normally do.

Our coach expected us to win the match and to go through to the next stage as the top team. When we came back to Xebio Arena Sendai in this afternoon, I was named skipper for the match against Teikyo. Being a junior in high school, this has been my first experience leading the team and I wanted to give my 100% in the game. It was such a shame that we couldn’t qualify in the top spot.

I appreciate our senior players for winning the two previous matches; this is why we qualified for the knockout stages. From tomorrow, we need to stay focused on what we should do as a team and keep winning.

In the future, since this is only my junior year, I want to come back and compete again next year.

The 3rd All Japan Youth (U-18) Futsal Tournament

Thu. 4 August - Sun. 7 August 2016
XEBIO ARENA SENDAI, Sendai City Gymnasium / Miyagi
More information
JFA-TV (Japanese version only)