Pick-up Match

The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League WEST entered the matchday 10 on 18 and 19 July and Vissel Kobe (Hyogo) took on Kyoto Sanga FC U-18 (Kyoto).

“If we can beat them, we can go up in the standings, and if we lose, we are going down, so that's an important game for us.” As Kobe's NODA Tatsuki stated, it was a significant match that could alter their future for both sides that are placed in the middle of the standings in the first leg of the second half of the season.

Kyoto struck first. On the 19th minute, NUMA Daiki reacted to a through pass from SHIMAMURA Takuya, who dribbled through the middle, and scored a goal after he became 1-on-1 against the Kobe goalkeeper. And then on the 23rd, HAGINO Kota netted a middle shot to give Kyoto a 2-0 lead. Kobe got behind early, but they gradually began their rally capitalizing on their passing works as the time wore on before they entered halftime.

Kobe came in the second half having substituted a couple of players. They shook the Kyoto defense with their quick passing game and grabbed the momentum offensively. In the 55th minute, NAKASAKA Yuta kicked a deflected ball that was shot by NOHARA Kenta into the goal to cut Kobe's deficit to one.

And then on the 78th, SASAKI Daiju, who came onto the pitch from the second half, was fouled to earn a penalty kick. Nakasaka later said, “When I looked around, there was nobody who wanted to kick it, so I thought I had to do it.” His successful goal tied the contest for Kobe.

Kobe maintained their momentum afterward. On the 87th, Nohara netted a goal on a Nakasaka pass to give Kobe a lead. They earned another PK opportunity but this time they failed to net it, and the game ended as it was. “I think that after the win today, we will be able to compete for a spot higher up in the standings. We want to keep lacking up points in the second half of the season to aim at the championship,” said Noda, whose Kobe got their first victory in three games.

Coach and Players’ Comments

NODA Satoru, Coach (Vissel Kobe U-18) 
It was great to take the downwind field, but we had too little of momentum and wound up lose the ball way too many times after we robbed the ball from the opponents. When you are about to attack and make mistakes, it's going to give you hard times, and we played our defence too lightly.

Yet from the midway through the first half, we created more time to push our opponents into their own field, so I told our players to keep it up in the second half as well. Our aim was to move the ball well, using the sides. I can't say that we were able to do it perfectly, but still our offence worked better than in the first half.

NODA Tatsuki (Vissel Kobe U-18)
We paid attention to Kyoto's offence with long balls from early on, but the way we entered the game wasn't good and our players' bodies weren't reacting well. Each one of our player played lightly on their defensive plays and struggled to get the ball, plus, we didn't have collectiveness on our offensive game, and we didn't really create scoring opportunities.

But in our season opening game against Kyoto, we came back from two goals down, so we told we should not give up. Because we showed our spirits that we had no choice but do it, we were able to defend tightly and attack boldly on our offensive side of ball.

MORIOKA Ryuzo, Coach (Kyoto Sanga FC U-18)
As in our previous game against Hiroshima, I wasn't able to make our players winners. We came in the game to keep a lead by making blocks, and it worked well in the first half. Yet we have had some games that we allowed our opponents to rally past us, and once we give up one goal, we tend to become negative.

In today's game as well, after we gave up a goal, we couldn't not stop the momentum going to their side. Nevertheless, our players showed good performance, so hopefully we can connect that to positive results going forward.

HIROKAWA Yuta (Kyoto Sanga FC U-18)
Kobe is a team who are good at connecting passes. We have raised our consciousness against crosses playing defensively from our practices. Our defence played with composure and we scored two goals in the first half, so that was good.

But in the second half, we allowed the opponents to possess the ball and despite the two-goal lead, we were behind mentally. We were rattled and kicked the ball so easily, and it led us to make many mistakes. That was the main reason for our loss. We have never had a game that we outran, so that's out issue for now.

Other Matches

Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth　0-3 (0-1, 0-2)　 Riseisha High School
Higashi Fukuoka High School　1-3 (1-1, 0-2)　Cerezo U-18
Nagoya Grampus U18　1-1 (1-1, 0-0)　Gamba Osaka Youth
Oita Trinita U-18　0-1 (0-0, 0-1)　 Kyoto Tachibana High School

Riseisha scored three goals, including the first one from HAYASHI Daichi, in a victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima).

Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) allowed Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) to equal right before the game entered the first half, but INOUE Taito netted two goals as Cerezo won 3-1 and retained the first place in the standings.

Nagoya Grampus U-18 (Aichi) and Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) finished the first half 1-1, but didn't score additional goals as they ended up drawing it.

TSUTSUMIHARA Tsubasa scores a goal to lead Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto) to a 1-0 win over host Oita Trinita U-18 (Oita), snapping their losing skid at six.