The final stage of the first round of the 38th Japan U-12 Football Championship was held on Tuesday 5 August at Susono ground of the Tokinosumika Sports Centre in Susono city, Shizuoka. The 24 teams, who got through the first round, played in the first stage of the second round.

Tamiya Victory Football Junior Association (Tokushima), who were sitting third in group 2, played against AC Junior (Miyagi), who topped the same group. Tamiya passed the ball with a few simple touches and struck the opener in the first half. Although the game was leveled after 24 minutes, Nishino Taiyo scored a goal two minutes later to decide the match. They advanced to the second round.

Championship debutants Fukushima United FC U-12 (Fukushima), who are hoping to get through the first round, met Sagan Tosu U-12 (Saga), who was sitting in second in the group 5. In the 11th minute, Uno Zento struck the first-ever goal for Fukushima United directly from a free kick, but Sagan Tosu scored four goals after that and won the match.

Square Toyama FC U-12 (Toyama) was ranking third in group 8 and played against F.C.Valentia (Wakayama), who also had three points. Square Toyama FC won the game 4-2 to advance to the second round. Both Vivace FC (Shizuoka) in group 9 and Fanaticos (Gunma) in group 11 got through to the second round by successfully moving up from third place to second.

In the afternoon the unsettled weather improved and the second round was held. The first match of the dream league, in which the third and fourth-ranking teams in each group will play, was also held. The top eight teams will be decided on Wednesday 6 August, the fourth day of the championship.
Details of the result can be found here.

Players Comments

UNO Zento (Fukushima United FC U-12,Fukushima)
Usually, other players would kick in those scoring-opportunity scenes, but I was told that I could try that free kick. So I focused on scoring directly, and not passing to my teammates. I was nervous, but very pleased when I scored. Before the match, I told myself that we would strike the opener and we would shoot again, even if we conceded. However, in the real match, I couldn’t put it behind me. All the players in this championship were big and swift.

YOSHIWARA Yuito (Fanaticos, Gunma)
Before I came here, my parents told me that I would do my best with no regrets; for the sixth grade it would be the last championship. That gave me strength. I’m over the moon, because I scored a goal to get through the first round. We’re staying at the same hotel and having many meetings, which helped our team unite to win the games. We’ll continue to play as a united team.

KONDO Kuraba (Tamiya Victory Football Junior Association, Tokushima)
We’ve already lost a game yesterday and it was vital to win the match in order to advance to the second round. So I decided to score a goal myself to win. As it was raining and the ground was slippery when I shot the ball, I just let the ball run. Although the game was leveled once, I rebooted my mind and thought ‘we need one more goal’. We did everything what we could and won the match with two goals in the end.

NOYAMA Hiroto (Blue Wing FC, Oita)
After conceding a goal in the game against Isshinden (Mie), I believed that we could turn the match around. This strong belief led us to score two goals. I thought there would be a loose ball and used it for the first goal. As for the second goal, I got brief eye contact with the player taking the corner, and ran in trusting my teammate. I was really happy with the goal, as the match was close and difficult.

JFA-TV

The 38th Japan U-12 Football Championship

Duration: Mon. 4 August to 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)