On Thursday 29 December, the final match of the 40th Japan U-12 Football Championship was held at Kamoike Athletic Stadium, where Cem Ano Kobe Junior (Hyogo) won their first championship of this event at their first tournament appearance in the past 12 years.

The final was a face-off between Kobe, who reached the finals with their characteristic passing ability refined through playing futsal, and Yokohama F・Marinos Primary (Kanagawa), who had mounted up goals with their outstanding stamina and tenacious run.

Both sides showed their strengths and kept chasing the ball until the final whistle. Despite the chilly weather with occasional cold winds, inspiring plays by the young players and loud cheers by more than 2,000 enthusiastic fans in the stand warmed up the entire stadium. 

Early on Kobe took the initiative by connecting short passes. They acquired repeated set-piece opportunities fairly close to the goal. MARUO Taichi attempted a shot with his header off a free-kick, and in the 9th minute OBATA Toshiki fired a mid-range strike. Both, however, were denied by Yokohama FM goalkeeper WATANABE Kai and his remarkable reaction. But his saves did not stop Kobe’s momentum completely. In the 15th minute, Kobe was awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box by Yokohama. WADA Kenshiro composedly converted it for the match opener. Then two minutes later, SHIMIZU Funosuke extended the lead to two with his mid-range shot.

On the other hand, Yokohama F・Marinos, who were forced to endure a long stretch defending, aggressively fed the ball up in the second half. Moments into the second half, NOYORI Shunsuke attempted from a mid-range and SHIMADA Haruto aimed directly at a free-kick. As they gradually started to find their tempo, Yokohama FM finally scored one back in the 26th minute when MATSUMURA Kosuke took the ball up and put his shot into the right corner of Kobe’s goal. Yokohama’s offence accelerated even further and actually kept attacking until the last minute without giving up. Very late in the regulation, Matsumura attempted another shot through a short counter-attack only to see it go off target. Furthermore MATSUDA Toji’s shot from the mid-range was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, WATANABE Kosei.

Although trying frequently, Yokohama FM and their comeback efforts failed to put the ball to the back of the net and erase the deficit. Kobe’s clinging defence was also noteworthy and the 2-1 scoring remained unchanged until the last whistle was blown. Kobe grabbed the tournament trophy for the first time, as it was also the first for any Hyogo Prefecture representatives.

Vibrant plays were in full display by both teams in the contest and the referee rewarded Yokohama FM’s SHIMADA Haruto and both teams with a green card. Also fans in the stand applauded the contestants loudly and endlessly after the match as the tournament came to an end.

Players' Comments

WATANABE Kosei (Cem Ano Kobe Junior)
In this final, I wanted to send all the not-so-tall goalkeepers in the country a message that even short ones can play in the national tournament. The strengths of our defensive end are being very good at headers and never backing down from anything. (In defending) we paid attention to covering their attacks towards the space behind us and communicate our assignments when the opponents make substitutions. In the future I want to be a (professional) soccer player and play at the world stage.

WADA Kenshiro (Cem Ano Kobe Junior)
After I became sixth grader, I started playing futsal seriously as well as football. Because of playing futsal, I think I got better at playing one-two combination. In this tournament, one of the keys behind our title was that we were able to move the ball right to our feet. When this match started, I was like “now that we are here at the final, we want to play a good match and never leave any regrets after it’s over.” I am happy that we won the second national title (after the 26th All Japan U-12 Futsal Championship).

WATANABE Kai (Yokohama F・Marinos Primary)
Our offence scored a goal, so we wanted to take advantage of it and win. (After conceding goals) we thought that we would be able to score the second, since they also scored two. The second goal was from my own mistake, so I really wanted to make up for it. It’s disappointing. In the semi-final against Diablossa Takada FC, we came back from behind and won. Having that kind of comeback in this tournament will turn out to be a good experience, I think.

MATSUMURA Kosuke (Yokohama F・Marinos Primary)
We gave away two goals in the first half, so we had no choice but to score in the second half. In a situation like that, it was good that my goal put us back a little bit, but we couldn’t score the second. We were aiming at the championship, so not being able to get it done is disappointing. I actually scored one, but I wanted to calm myself down more and nail a couple of scoring chances we had. In the future, I want to be a player who can play well internationally.

Tournament Awards

Champions

Cem Ano Kobe（Hyogo）

Runner-up

Yokohama F・Marinos（Kanagawa）

Third Place

Fuchu Shinmachi FC（Tokyo）
Diablossa Takada FC（Nara）

Fair Play Award

Taiyo ＳＣ Miyazaki Minami（Miyazaki）

Best Effort Award

Fuchu Shinmachi FC（Tokyo）

Good Manners Award

Diablossa Takada FC（Nara)

Special Award

Kyoto Nagaokakyo SS（Kyoto）

Most Impressive Team

Yokohama F・Marinos（Kanagawa）

Top Scorer

SUETANI Seigo（12 goals、Cem Ano Kobe）

Golden Glove ＆ Boot Award

WATANABE Kai（Yokohama F・Marinos）

40th Japan U-12 Football Championship

Tournament Period：
Sunday 25 December - Thursday 29 December

Tournament Venue：
1st round/Round 16   Kagoshima Fureai Sports Land (Kagoshima)
Quarter-Final   Kagoshima Kamoike Auxiliary Field (Kagoshima)
Semi-Final/Final   Kagoshima Kamoike Auxiliary Field (Kagoshima)

Tournament Information