The 4 teams to go through to the semi final of the 20th All Japan Youth (U-15) Futsal Championship were decided on the 2nd day of the Championship, 11 January.

On the second day of the Championship, the last matches of the 1st round were held to determine the 4 teams to go through to the final round. Group D was especially exciting since all 4 teams of this group had the chance to go through and the result depended on this last match.

Maebashi Junior Youth (Kanto1/ Gunma), who had a slight edge, played against FC Regate (Tohoku/ Fukushima). At the beginning of the match, Horikoshi Ryusei of Maebashi Junior Youth got the opening goal but they then allowed the opponents a goal 3 minutes later. Right after this equaliser, Ubukawa Haruomi of Maebashi Junior Yough struck the 2nd goal. They kept attacking, maximising their scoring chances and beat FC Regate with 5-1.

Another match in Group D was between Matsuyama Mitsuhama Junior High School (Shikoku/ Ehime) and Athpegas FC (Kansai/ Nara). They didn’t allow any goals in the first half, but Umezu Katsuki, of Athpegas FC, got the first goal on 12 minutes into 2nd half and added a 2nd goal on 15 minutes. Even though Mitsuhama Junior High School got 1 goal back, but then UMEZU scored the third for theirhat trick and Athpegas FC won the match with 3-1. In the previous match, Maebashi Junior Youth beat Athpegas FC, so Maebashi Junior Youth FC qualified for the final round.

3 teams from the other 3 groups got the chance to move on to the final round with 3 consecutive wins in the each groups. Consadore Asahikawa U-15 (Hokkaido 2) played against Yamaguchi SC Grace Infinity(Chugoku/ Yamaguchi) in Group A. Asahikawa improved their combination play to score effectively throughout their games in this Championship and won the match with 7-2.
In Group B, NAGAOKA JYFC Borboleta (Kitashinetsu1/ Nigata) played against Date Junior High School (Hokkaido1/ Hokkaido). NAGAOKA JYFC Borboleta scored 3 goals including 2 goals made by SUYAMA Yuma in the 1st half and kept a clean sheet in the 2nd half. NAGAOKA JYFC Borboleta moved on to the final round.

In Group C, there was a three way battle between Brincar FC U-15 (Aichi), Yaese Gushikami Junior High School (Kyushu/ Okinawa), and Nagaoka JYFC vespa ( Kitashinetsu 2/ Niigata). Brincar FC got 3 consecutive wins and moved on to the final round, keeping their level of play in the group matches.

The Semi final and final matches will be held on 12 January to select Japan’s top U-15 futsal team. While all teams showed such high level of play, who will have the last laugh?

Comments

TAKAHASHI Hiroto（Consadore Asahikawa U-15)
All of the teams were strong and we struggled in all of our previous matches. However, it is nice to go on to the final round by our guts and determination. If there are only limited members who can play in the game, but in our case all of our players have same quality so that we can certainly keep same level of play with any combination of players, understanding characteristics and role of each player. Last year, our senior players couldn’t win in the final, so we definitely want to win this year. Giving our Head Coach a victorious toss at the end is our wish.

SUGATA Hiroyuki, Head Coach（Date Junior High School）
“Let’s finish on top” I said to the players at the beginning of this Championship so it is a shame that we’ve lost in the 1st round. In the first match, the opponents contained us and I think that was because of our nervousness and lack of experience. Since this is our first experience in the national level championship, it was good to play be in a different environment from football matches and we definitely learned how to move the ball around at this Championship. They are originally football players and I want them to keep working hard to improve their level of play.

SENAGA Morimitsu, Head Coach（Yaese Gushikami Junior High School）
In Okinawa there are no futsal teams hence we don’t have much chance to play futsal matches. This lack of experience is part of the reason we lost here. Another reason can be our too optimistic mentality after the first match which we came from behind and won. We wanted to show our strengths from Okinawa and Kyusyu area, but we got to know that we still have a long way to win the championship. For the payers, it was a good lesson to come up to national level matches and they experienced that having everyday experiences playing futsal does make a difference, so I want them to keep working for the future victory.

NOJIMA Norikazu, Head Coach（Maebashi Junior Youth）
It has been our first experience to play futsal at this type of national championship. At this occasion, all of the players could play in the matches to qualify enjoying different rules from that of football. Last year we couldn’t qualify for the Prince Takamado Trophy All Japan Youth (U-15) Football Tournament and we just kept working very hard to play in national level matches. This is a very good experience not only for players but also for the staff. We will keep working hard to get the victory.

JFA-TV

The 20th All Japan Youth (U-15) Futsal Championship open on 10 January

Sat. 10 January - Mon. 12 January 2015
Skyhall Toyota (Toyota City/Aichi)

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