Following the previous day, the 39th Japan U-12 Football Championship witnessed heated contests on Saturday 27 December at Kagoshima Fureai Sports Land in the city of Kagoshima. In the morning, the third matches of the first round were played to determine the final standings of all the twelve groups. Every top team from the groups and the four best second-placed teams advanced to the round of 16, which had its eight matches from 3 p.m. on the same day.

In Group 5 of the first round, U-Sports Club (Yamanashi) played against Estrellas FC (Fukushima), controlling the match on their own pace. Including the match opener by AMEMIYA Rai, who took advantage a cross ball finding him on the front line, U-Sports won the third straight match. This match particularly had a larger number of fair plays with the spirit of respect by both sides, and many green cards were given to the players.

Group 6 had Futsu SSS (Ishikawa) come out for the third match with their perfect 2-0 record, but they struggled against Matsushige FC (Tokushima). Even so, their defence was good enough to finish the match with a draw and to move out of the group round atop. SSS Sapporo (Hokkaido) were forced to play a very tough match against FC ENFINI (Gifu) and the Gifu side’s intense pressure both offensively and defensively. Sapporo tried to come back with a mid-range shot by KUBOTA Rinta. While both sides showed hard-fought plays, Sapporo fell just short and were eliminated in the first round.

In the round of 16, Sagan Tosu (Saga), who came out of Group 4 atop, took on Sekido Club (Okinawa), Group 6’s second place. Tosu grabbed the initiative of the match, creating scoring opportunities with their quick vertical attacks. Although Tosu took the first lead with FUKUI Taichi’s opener, Sekido Club also showed their offensive prowess including MAEKI Ayumu’s beautiful chip kick shot. The match went into a penalty shootout after the regulation ended being tied 2-2. But even the shootout did not determine the winner until it went into the second round. Tosu finally came out victorious with goalkeeper TANAKA Yuki’s outstanding save.

Group 1’s top seed Regista FC (Saitama) faced Yokohama F Marinos Primary who finished at second place in Group 9. Both sides had their offence in good form in the first round, and the match turned out to be very up-tempo with a lot of battles in front of goals. Regista’s YAMAZAKI Rin scored the match-winning goal late to move his team ahead to the quarter final.

Now that the elite eight teams are set, the quarter-finals will be held in the morning of 28 December at Kamoike Auxiliary Field and the semi-finals will take place from 2 p.m. at Kamoike Athletic Stadium.

Players' Comments

AMEMIYA Rai (Yamanashi/U-Sports Club)
(Speaking of his goal) My teammate gave me a good cross, so I tried to shoot it. I haven’t scored many goals like this, so when it went in, I was happy. U-Sports Club aim for passing football. In some matches we can play like that, so next match we want to play like U-Sports’ football. I want to score a goal again. I want to score a cool goal again.

YASUDA Kojiro (Ishikawa/Futsu SSS)
Our goal is to play possession football. (In the match against Matsushige FC) We were able to move the ball in the back, but the opponents’ pressure was very quick and we couldn’t move it forward. In a situation like that, we tend to kick (long balls) in the way the opponents want us to, so we need to correct that. We advanced to the round of 16, so we want to tackle what we couldn’t do right and we want to show possession football just like Futsu always do.

SEKI Shuntaro (Gifu/FC ENFINI)
We lost yesterday and weren’t able to advance to the final round. But as a representative of Gifu Prefecture, we played with the spirit of the teams who lost (in the prefecture qualifiers.) The opponents had a very tall forward and at first I didn’t know what to expect. But we just played with a strong heart in the end. For us six graders, this match turned out to be the last match. After I start my junior high school, I want to be a player who keeps winning and comes back to this national stage.

TANAKA Yuki (Saga/Sagan Tosu U-12)
(In the match against Sekido Club) I was a little surprised that the shootout reached my turn, but my teammates failed two shots and I thought I would have to do well for them as well. Today we worked hard just as our Tosu team usually do, and we were able to have multiple players on the ball to defend. Early in the match, I felt that we were a little nervous, so that’s something we need to improve. Even when my teammates are a little nervous, I want to stay calm, make good judgements and coach my teammates to calm them down.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

Match 2nd Goal Digest

The 39th Japan U-12 Football Championship

Duration: Sat. 26 December - Tue. 29 December
Venue:
1st round/Round 16   Kagoshima Fureai Sports Land (Kagoshima)
Quarter-Final   Kagoshima Kamoike Auxiliary Field (Kagoshima)
Semi-Final/Final   Kagoshima Kamoike Athletic Stadium (Kagoshima)
More information