The JOC Junior Olympic Cup 18th All Japan Youth Women's Football Tournament had its final and third-place match on Wednesday 7 January at J-GREEN SAKAI, Osaka. Nippon TV Menina claimed their fifth straight crown at the tournament.

Third-place Match

Vicsale Okinawa FC Navita (Kyushu/Okinawa)　0-9（1st 0-5、2nd 0-4）　JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18 (Kanto 3/Chiba)

Ahead of the final on the last day of the tournament, the third-place contest for the bronze medal was held between Vicsale Okinawa FC Navita and JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18 . Vicsale Okinawa created a defensive block and kept high defensive intent as they sometimes created shooting opportunities for their own. However, after they conceded an opening goal in the 22nd minute, they kept allowing JEF to win the fights on the ball and to finish their attacks, and as a result, lost five goals in the first half.
JEF handed a captain role over to Oga Risako in place of Oya Madoka who was sidelined by an injury. They scored five goals including Sato Mizuka’s hat trick in the first half and added some more from set plays and others before they finished the match with a shutout win to gain the bronze medal.

Match Detail(Japanese version only)

Final

Nippon TV Menina (Kanto 1/Tokyo) 5-2 (1st 2-1, 2nd 3-1) Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth (Kanto 2/Saitama)

The final between Menina, contending for the fifth consecutive crown, and Urawa, striving for the “long-awaited championship” started with Urawa’s goal. In the 2nd minute, Minami Moeka headed in an opener from a corner kick. The opposing Menina also needed just seven minutes to get back on level terms when Kanno Oto scored through a pass from Toriumi Yuka. In the 34th minute, Menina’s Doko Mayo scored a go-ahead goal from a corner kick and turned around the scoring. The first half ended with Menina’s 2-1 lead.
In the second half, after the players were sent on by their boss with the words “Fight through the match and have fun doing it”, Menina apparently played without any hesitation. In the 55th, Momiki Yuuka fired her side’s third goal with her left foot after she intercepted an opposing pass and challenged forward vertically. In the 56th, substitute Funaki Nodoka composedly scored the pass connected from Toriumi and Hasegawa Yui to keep ripping apart the opponents. In the 59th, when Funaki again added another to give her side a four-goal lead, Menina’s bench jumped around and celebrated the goal along with the drum coming from supporters. On the other hand, Urawa, going all out for a comeback, scored a goal from a corner kick in the 86th minute, but their fightback ended there. Menina won their fifth consecutive tournament crown with a 5-2 win.

Match Detail(Japanese version only)

Comments

SUZUKI Shun, Head Coach (Nippon TV Menina/Tokyo)
We conceded a goal first when we lost concentration, but it was good that we got better and equalised early. While we got to show good attacks to summarise what we had done in this year, we had some lost goals that our defensive end should have stopped. That’s the lesson we should learn from now on. The teams who can aim for consecutive wins are only the champions. We’ve always kept that in mind and worked out in our everyday practice. I’m very happy that it finally blossomed.

MOMIKI Yuuka (Nippon TV Menina/Tokyo)
At the moment I scored, I was going to pass to the centre, but it hit off an opponent. So I changed my mind to take a shot with my left foot. I wanted to score in my final match with Menina. I’m happy to score a goal. During my six-year spell at Menina, we won the national championships five times. The six years turned out to be excellent.

SHIMOYAMA Kaoru, Head Coach (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth/Saitama)
In the early first half, we got into the match trying not to concede a goal. We scored an opening goal early on, but we didn’t think that we could proceed the match in our favour and were bracing at least one goal to concede. It would have been good if we could have finished the first half with 1-1, but we gave up an additional goal. If the score hadn’t widen so much, we could have put more players for our offence. In the second half, we failed to refresh our mind-set after conceding goals.

OGA Risako (JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18/Chiba)
It was my first time to put on the captain’s armband, and I felt the pressure of it.. Before the match, our captain said to me “(I am) counting on you,” so I got tensed. But I tried to think I will play to live up to the armband and lead my teammates. The bronze medal was what we all gained together including players who didn’t come here. This tournament is the finale for me. We had some good matches and were able to improve as a team.

JFA-TV

JOC Junior Olympic Cup The 18th All Japan Youth Women's Football Tournament

Sat. 3 January - Wed. 7 January 2015
Osaka/J-GREEN Sakai

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