The two semi-final matches were held for the JOC Junior Olympic Cup the 20th All Japan Youth (U-18) Football Tournament on Friday 6 January at J-GREEN Sakai in Osaka Prefecture.

Semi-finals - Match 1

Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls（Kansai1／Osaka）2-1（1-0, 1-1）JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18（Kanto3／Chiba）
 
The main pitch of the facility was used for the two contests. The matchup between Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls and JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18 saw JEF create their offensive rhythm early. Cerezo Osaka, seemingly a little tensed in the beginning, gradually got themselves loosened up. In the 37th minute, Cerezo Osaka’s goalkeeper NISHINAKA Maho injured her left wrist and had to leave the game. Despite the accident, YAMASHITA Rina, who subbed in for the position, immediately showed her presence including kicking an accurate long feed. As the match went on, Cerezo Osaka took better control of the game and in the 45th minute, TAKARADA Saori finished their side attack with her match opener. The first half finished right after the Osaka side taking the one goal lead. 

Being one goal down, JEF’s coach FUJII Nana told the players during the break: “Never give away another goal early in the half. We will do what they are trying to do before they do it.” Then in the 55th minute, JEF tied the scoring with one of their weapons, a set-piece. SATO Mizuka acquired a corner-kick opportunity, where UNAI Sara put home the deflection from SONE Nanami’s feed.

Defending champions Cerezo Osaka who were playing at home went on their attack again, on behalf of their injured teammate. Their coach TAKEHANA Tomoya inspired the team during the halftime, saying “we must win this one for Maho (Nishinaka, goalkeeper) as well. That’s what a team is all about.” Determined Cerezo regained the lead seven minutes later. Defender TSUTSUI Riko sent a feed into the space behind the opposing defenders, which YAKATA Miyu composedly put into the back of the net to change the scoring 2-1. After surviving through come-back efforts by JEF and hanging on to the one-goal lead, Cerezo Osaka advanced to the final for the second time in two years.

Match Summary (Japanese version only)

Semi-finals - Match 2

Sfida Setagaya FC Youth（Kanto2／Tokyo）0-5（0-2, 0-3）Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth（Kanto4／Saitama）
 
The other semi-final was a rematch of two Kanto teams, Sfida Setagaya FC Youth and Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth. In the regional qualifiers, Setagaya defeated Urawa 2-0 for the second-place spot, but this time it was Urawa that scored first. In the 14th minute, NAGANO Fuka passed the ball to WATARI Yuki, who avoided a defender upon receiving the ball and struck the shot into goal. It gave Urawa even stronger composure and energy to keep on attacking. Nagano scored the second in the 37th minute and the first half ended with Urawa taking a commanding lead.
 
Even with the two-goal advantage, Urawa did not let their guard down and kept showing effective transition between offence and defence. Setagaya, on the other hand, made correction during the halftime to go towards Urawa’s goal. But Urawa’s defence was too consistent and Setagaya actually conceded some more goals. In the 55th minute, NAGASHIMA Reina put a corner kick home for the third goal of the team, and five minutes later IPPOSHI Hiroka put Urawa up four with her goal. Before the match ended, TAKAHASHI Minori added one more to guide Urawa to the final with the 5-0 perfect win.

Match Summary (Japanese version only)

Coaches' and Players' Comments

TAKEHANA Tomoya, Coach (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls)
When I sent them onto the pitch, I said to them: “No matter who the opponents are, we won’t lose as long as we play just as we always play.” Midway through the first half, our offence started working and we took the lead. During the half time, I said to them: “The team with stronger will to win will win. Stay aggressive.” But the loose ball out of a set-piece, which we were trying to be very careful of, was put into our goal. But for the rest of the way, I don’t think we had such a bad moment. We are playing at home in Osaka, so we really want to win back-to-back in any kind of fashion.
 
YAKATA Miyu (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls)
We kept putting pressure up and early not to let them move the ball unchecked. In the second half, we allowed a goal and we were put into a tough stretch. But for that go-ahead goal, a good pass came to me, and all I had to do was put it in. So I could do that without panicking. JEF had many physically strong players and I had some hard time, but it was good that we could close this match with a win. The pressure to win two years in a row is big, but we want to play as a team and want to win it all again no matter what. 

KAWABE Kenichi, Coach (Sfida Setagaya FC Youth)
Our game plan was to defend well, aim for counter-attacks and win it by converting limited chances. Early on we could play with our own pace, but we allowed goals and the match went out of our hand as we couldn’t hold on to it. In the first half, because we were too scared of their attacks, our backline was very low and we had too big space in the middle. So during the halftime I told them to keep it compact and play our style of football. I was hoping we would score at least one goal, but against such a skilled team, it was a total loss.

WATARI Yuki (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth)
My dribbling wasn’t working today, so I wanted to do my job at least in front of goal. That made me more aware of shooting chances, so I could score. Setagaya were the opponents against who we lost in the Kanto regional qualifiers. So in the meeting, we told each other that we would never let ourselves lose twice and we braced ourselves up. The confidence we gained by defeating Nippon TV Menina also worked well for us. The final match will be the last official match for high school third graders on our team. So I will hold myself accountable for my plays and help my team’s win with my goals.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

Semi-final 1: Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls VS JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18

Semi-final 2: Sfida Setagaya FC Youth VS Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth

JOC Junior Olympic Cup The 20th All Japan Youth Women's Football Tournament

3 Jaunuary 2017 (Tue.) ～ 7 January 2017 (Sat.)
J-GREEN Sakai（Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture）
Tournament Information