Pick-up Match

Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School 1-0 (1-0, 0-0) Kashima Antlers Youth

On Saturday 14 and Monday 16 July, the ninth Sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League EAST took place as the third place Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School (Chiba) welcomed the undefeated league leaders Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) at home.

After suffering a 0-4 defeat to Jubilo Iwata U-18 (Shizuoka) in their last Sec., Ryutsukeizai’s Coach HONDA Yuichiro shared that he has spoken with his team that, “Our next opponent has not lost a single match in this league. We will be facing a very strong Kashima side. I told my players that I take more joy out of victories over strong teams.” With that being said, the coach also mentioned that the team has trained to, “Apply collective pressure from the attacking third and enter the match with high intensity,” in order to challenge the first-place team.

With the two teams known for their endurance and tenaciousness in fifty-fifty balls clashing under the scorching heat, the match saw intense battles from the early minutes. As Kashima’s Coach KUMAGAI Koji mentioned, “Both teams’ strong point lies in set-plays,” the opening goal was produced from a freekick. In the 19th minute, Ryutsukeizai’s defender SUNAGA Ryui (#3) converted a freekick delivered from the right side with his header to give the Kashiwa side a one goal lead.

The match saw both teams utilising long balls to initiate their attacks, while both sides fought hard to win the ball in each situation. Kashima has shown their dominance in winning the ball to obtain their lead in the league, but in this match Ryutsukeizai took the upper hand as their forward KITAJIMA Naoki (#8) said, “Facing the league leaders, we were really pumped up and we are a type of team that does not want to lose those battles (in fifty-fifty situations).” Coach Kumagai praised his players as the Kashima side “Displayed great intention to attack, even though we were facing a tough stretch.” Led by the fine saves made by Ryutsukeizai’s goalkeeper INOSE Kosuke (#25), the Kashiwa side kept a clean sheet to give Kashima Antlers their first loss in the Premier League this season.

Premier League EAST has finished all matches scheduled for the first half and now enter a break-period. The league is scheduled to resume on Sat 25 and Sun 26 August.

Coaches’ and Players’ Comments

HONDA Yuichiro, Coach (Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School)
Our opponents have shown their absolute dominance in the league this season. We knew they are a very strong team, but it makes me excited to face such team. I told my players that, too. In our last Sec. we couldn’t apply pressure collectively because there was too much gap between the players applying pressure and the players covering the space. That was one of the reason we lacked intensity, so we trained to fix that issue and our improvements reflected today’s outcome.

FW #8 KITAJIMA Naoki (Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School)
Facing the league leaders, we fought the match as if we had nothing to lose. We were asked to apply pressure from the front line today. I think my strong point is in the ability to exploit the open space behind the defenders and my foot skills, but my weakness has always been in the mental aspects. That is why I have been keeping a strong emphasis in physical battles and to fight hard for the ball. Compared to back when I was in first grade, I feel like I have become more capable of winning the ball.

KUMAGAI Koji, Coach (Kashima Antlers Youth)
In this Premier League, all matches can really go either way. We lost today’s match, but our results thus far have been a little too good to be real, so I’m not too surprised by todays outcome. But with that being said, this result (being first place after the first half) reflects all the hard work put in by our players, and they have been performing very well. However, including the goal we conceded today, we cannot be satisfied with a losing match, so we will reflect on the match and improve ourselves.

MF #10 MAEDA Taira (Kashima Antlers Youth)
Heading into the match, we knew it would be a tough match, but we couldn’t enter the match in a good way and we also couldn’t get things going as the match progressed neither. It is also regretful that we conceded from a set play. Personally, I couldn’t perform well, and I think that could be said for the team as a whole. We managed to win six consecutive matches this season to get ourselves an astonishing start. The result was a little surreal, but we will continue to work hard towards the next tournament and the second half of the season.

Results of other matches

FC Tokyo U-18 1-6 (1-3, 0-3) Kashiwa Reysol U-18
Urawa Red Diamonds Youth 1-0 (0-0, 1-0) Jubilo Iwata U-18
Toyama Daiichi High School 1-0 (1-0, 0-0) Shimizu S-pulse Youth
Aomori Yamada High School 6-2 (2-1, 4-1) Ichiritsu Funabashi High School

The visiting side, Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) scored six goals against FC Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) where the scoring was led by the fifth minute goal scored by their defender FUJIMOTO Hayato (#22). The match between Urawa Red Diamonds Youth (Saitama) and Jubilo Iwata U-18 (Shizuoka) was tied until the 87th minute, but the deadlock was broken by an own goal conceded by Iwata to give Urawa the victory. Toyama Daiichi High School (Toyama) welcomed Shimizu S-pulse Youth’s (Shizuoka) to their home where the home side’s midfielder TAKAGI Toshiki (#17) scored the only goal in the 37th minute to give Toyama their first win of the season. Led by their midfielder DANZAKI Riku’s (#10) goal in the 19th minute, Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) converted six goals to win against Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) with a final score of 6-2 to edge within five points against the league leaders Kashima.

Tournament Period：Sat. 7 April 2018 ～ Sun. 9 December 2018

Tournament Information