As the 38th All-Japan Boys Football Championship will get underway on 4th August (the opening ceremony will be held on 3rd), we'll look back the 2013 edition of the tourney.

Entering its third year since the tournament applied an eight-a-side game, the 37th championship had a total of 48 teams, including 15 first-time squads. Under the heat, the players showed their energy aiming at victories.
Nagoya Grampus Under-12 (Aichi), Sorriso Kumamoto Under-12 (Kumamoto), Kashima Antlers Junior (Ibaraki) and Oyamada Soccer Sports Shonendan (Mie) qualified through the first and second round and advanced to the semifinals. In the semis, Nagoya edged Kumamoto 2-1 and Kashima crushed Oyamada 4-0 to make their first final berth in five years. Meanwhile, though they were eliminated, Kumamoto won the good manner accolade and Oyamada won the most spiritual award.

In the championship match between Nagoya and Kashima, the observers didn't wait too long to see a score.
On 3rd minute, Kashima had a free kick and their captain Oyama Sena directly netted it into the goal to give his side a lead. Nagoya tried to rally around Nishiyana Renpei and Tanabe Kohei, but weren't able to get past the goal line of the Kashima defence, who had gone their last seven contests giving up just one goal. And Kashima, overcoming the tough time without allowing a goal, looked to scored from fast attacks. On 36th minute (the match was played with 20-minute halves), Kubota Satoshi, who got a space on a counter, composedly put a shot into the goal to extend Kashima's lead. Kashima preserved the two-goal lead until the end and posted a shutout win. They grabbed their first-ever championship.

The first round of the 38th All-Japan Boys Football Championship will start on 4th August, as the 48 representatives from all over the nation will put up battles for the 9th August championship match.

The 38th Japan U-12 Football Championship

Duration：Mon., 4 August ～ Sat., 9 August 2014
Venue：
＜1st round ～ Final Tournament（Quarter-finals）＞
Gotemba Tokinosumika Susono Ground（Susono, Shizuoka）
＜Final Tournament（Semi-finals / Final）＞
Shizuoka Ashitaka Park Multi-purpose Field（Numazu, Shizuoka）

» For more information on the Championship, please click here.