Pick-up Match

Ichiritsu Funabashi High School   1-2 (0-0, 1-2)   Kashima Antlers Youth

On Sunday 6 December, the Prince Takamado Trophy Premier League EAST held its 18th matchday, where league-leading Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) took on Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) at Funabashi Hoten Park "Grasspo" Field. Since clinching the championship was at stake for Kashima and the opponents were the local powerhouse Ichiritsu Funabashi, the large group of audience was seen in the stands even before the kick-off.

The contest was full of fierce hard-fought battels everywhere on the pitch. While Kashima’s coach KUMAGAI Koji said of his team’s relentlessness "we have trained until now never to be outhustled on the ball," Ichiritsu Funabashi players expressed their own determination as well, saying "we can’t back off from the battles on the ball." The statistics showed how intensely close the actions in the midfield were, as Ichiritsu Funabashi shot only twice and Kashima had only one in the first half. 

Being very different from the first half, the second half witnessed a scoring action immediately after the start. In the 48th minute, Kashima’s right full-back TODA Takumi joined their attack and fed a cross in from right by the goal line. After OSATO Yuto deflected it into the middle, forward YOSHIOKA Juriya obtained a penalty kick opportunity in a physical contact against the opposing goalkeeper.

HIRATO Taiki calmly converted the spot kick to bring his team the opening goal. Ichiritsu Funabashi, however, did not allow the lead to be kept for long. In the 53rd minute, defender SUGIOKA Daiki headed a corner-kick by KUDO Yuki to bring the match on level terms. 

The course of the match was "very demoralising" as Kumagai later put, and Kashima actively tried to utilise substitutions to revitalise their line-up. In the 67th minute, SHIKAMA Yuki replaced ISHIZU Hayato and showed his outstanding speed to threaten the opposing defenders. 

Then the 71st minute saw the biggest play of the match. Shikama robbed the ball early from an Ichiritsu Funabashi defender and dribbled it into the box. He lost the ball, but Osato fired the loose ball off near the goal line. After the goalkeeper denied it once, Toda put it into the goal with his head to regain the lead.

Later Kashima successfully edged out Ichiritsu Funabashi for the 2-1 win. "There have been no easy matches throughout the season and today was no exception," coach Kumagai recalled after the match. With another close win on the last matchday of the season, Kashima were crowned with the EAST title. 

Coach and Players' Comments

NAGATO Ayumu (Ichiritsu Funabashi High School)
In the first half when I was watching from the bench, I was wondering whether they would not like it if we feed the ball to the space behind their centre-backs. Their defence was so solid that I thought they were a very capable team. I thought we had to play very determined. Although we had some chances to score, we couldn’t convert those. That’s why we lost today.

This premier league campaign gave me extra confidence. When I thought about myself being in the last year of high school, I really wanted to win the EAST and move on to the championship. This result is really disappointing. It hurts to say this but I am really convinced that every single match is important in a long league season like this.

KUMAGAI Koji, Coach (Kashima Antlers Youth)
As we expected, it turned out to be a tough match. But this match reminded me that my kids had grown so much. The course of the match was very demoralizing but we were able to close it out. We have grown so much as a team. (Speaking of the goals Kashima scored) In both of the situations, if we had given it up, it wouldn’t have been possible. We were able to show our tenacity that we had been aiming for. You may say we need to play more wisely, but we had sought for this fundamental tenacity, and it gave us this win, I think.

TODA Takumi (Kashima Antlers Youth)
Speaking of the match-winning goal, I rushed toward the goal, believing the ball would come to me. When it came to me, I was going to head it in, but I lost the sight of the ball and I didn’t know at the moment whether it went in or not. But I saw my teammates celebrating and it made me realise it went in. I was so happy. The reason for this win was our will to win was stronger than our opponents’. Even when we allowed the equaliser, we kept telling each other that we still had enough time. There was no panic. This win is the result of us keeping playing until the end without giving it up. 

MACHIDA Koki (Kashima Antlers Youth)
Our opponents Ichiritsu Funabashi are a hard-working team with finesse ball-control technique. So it turned out to be a difficult match. But we were able to win against such opponents by having eleven players on the pitch, other guys on the team, all the coaching staff and our supporters in the stand work together, and that makes this win so fulfilling. 

We didn’t have our scorer KAKITA Yuki, but our other attackers kept the ball well, so I think we were able to prove that "we can win even without our ace." The championship will never be easy, but we will show how much we have got better and make it a good enough match to proudly conclude our three "youth" years. 

Other Matches

F.C. Tokyo U-18   1-2 (1-1, 0-1)   Aomori Yamada High School
Omiya Ardija Youth   3-1 (2-0, 1-1)   JFA Academy Fukushima
Kashiwa Reysol U-18   2-2 (1-1, 1-1)   Consadole Sapporo U-18
Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School   2-2 (0-0, 2-2)   Shimizu S-Pulse Youth

Second-placed Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) defeated F.C.Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) with KAMIYA Yuta’s go-ahead goal, but fell short of surpassing Kashima for the come-from-behind championship due to Kashima adding their own three points. 

KAWATA Kento’s two goals helped Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama) beat JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka) and finish their season with a win.

Consadole Sapporo U-18 (Hokkaido), with a slight possibility to stay in the league at the moment of the kick-off, ended up drawing to Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) and failed to avoid relegation. 

The second-half shootout between Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School (Chiba) and Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka) finished with 2-2 tie. 

"The 2nd Prince Takamado Trophy Premier League Best Goal Campaign" is now going on! (Japanese version only)