Pick-up Match

Kashiwa Reysol U-18   0-0 (1st 0-0, 2nd 0-0)   Omiya Ardija Youth

The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League EAST began on Saturday 11 April as reigning champions Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) faced Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama).

Kashiwa brought their passing football to completion and claimed the EAST league title last year in their first Premier League season after a promotion. Omiya have also built up possession football throughout generations from U-12 and U-15. This year’s squad have full confidence in breaking down opponents by stringing passes together. The contest between teams who try to take the initiative through possessing the ball turned out to be very competitive.

While Kashiwa tried to start their attacks on the sides, Omiya did not allow any gap by staying back at their end. Omiya quickly challenged opposing vertical passes to take away Kashiwa’s offensive freedom. After the continuous deadlock, Omiya created the first critical moment of the match. In the added-time of the first half, KAWATA Kento fired KUROKAWA Atsushi’s through ball, but his effort went off target.

Omiya gradually increased their momentum in the second half. As YAMADA Riku passed the ball around from the defensive midfield position, Omiya gained more spell attacking the opponents. Meanwhile, Kashiwa coped with the attacks with collective defending efforts and looked for their own attacking opportunities. In the 71st minute, SHIRAKAWA Keishiro showed his hunger for a goal when he took a shot through a combination with UKITA Kensei.

In the closing minutes with no goal scored, Omiya launched a wave of attacks from the right flank against Kashiwa, who “got a bit tired,” according to head coach Shimotaira Takahiro. Omiya head coach ITO Akira looks back after the match as “Their tenacity in front of goal was impressive.” Omiya were not able to grab a goal against Kashiwa’s committed defenders before the final whistle was blown for a 0-0 draw.

Head Coaches and Players' Comments

SHIMOTAIRA Takahiro, Head Coach (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
The match turned out to be what I predicted in some way. I thought we could’ve possessed the ball a bit more, but I believe we can improve that. Even though we didn’t have third-graders in the defensive line, the players kept a clean sheet against Omiya with one of the top disruptive attacking forces in the league. I want to give praise like “You did a great job”. Because we battled it out until the end, this match should be a good momentum for us moving on to next. When the players get used to the Premier League after more matches played, they will be playing more composedly.

SHIMOZAWA Yuta (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
For this match, we had been preparing the discipline like keeping the right distance between players and getting back to our end in defending. In the match, our attacks were a bit dull and weren’t able to bring out our strength against the opponents playing a similar style of football. We lost a lot of balls today, so we will explore more on possession. I hope we can grow as we play more matches.

ITO Akira, Head Coach (Omiya Ardija Youth)
We wanted to win. Our finishing touch wasn’t good enough, and I strongly feel we’ve got to improve the finishing accuracy. My players also must be disappointed, so I hope they we will take advantage of this experience. Kashiwa defended as a team and built up the offence once getting the ball. They were really threatening. There may be some teams who play defensively in the upcoming matches, but we have training with that in mind. All we need is continue to improve both offence and defence.

KUROKAWA Atsushi (Omiya Ardija Youth)
We allowed the opponents to possess the ball and had an enduring spell early on but were able to get back our rhythm midway through the first half. I’m disappointed our offensive force including me weren’t able to get a goal even though our defence worked well. Because Kashiwa have a similar style of football to Omiya, we were fired up to win the match at any cost. Individually, I was involved in our chances by running through from the second line. But I’m not satisfied at all. In the matches coming up, we will try to definitely turn goal-scoring chances into a goal.

Other Matches

JFA Academy Fukushima　1-3 (1st 0-1, 2nd 1-2)　Shimizu S-Pulse Youth
Ichiritsu Funabashi High School　1-0 (1st 0-0, 2nd 1-0)　 Consadole SapporoU-18
F.C. Tokyo U-18　0-1 (1st 0-0, 2nd 0-1)　 Kashima Antlers Youth
Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa　1-2 (1st 0-1, 2nd 1-1)　 Aomori Yamada High School

JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka), who avoided the relegation in their final match of the last season, met Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka). Shimizu claimed a 3-1 victory with FUKUI Yuhi’s brace with SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) head coach Vahid Halilhodzic watching from the stand. Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) beat Consadole Sapporo U-18 (Hokkaido), holding their slim lead scored by KUDO Yuki. Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) defeated FC Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) 1-0 with KAKITA Yuki’s winner. In the high school team contest between Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School (Chiba) and Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori), the Aomori side edged the Chiba side for their first victory of the season after notching their second goal of the day in the second half.