On Thursday 2 August, the JFA 5th U-18 Japan Futsal Championship opened at Xebio Arena and Kamei Arena Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. 16 teams made their appearance after winning through the regional qualifiers, as the tournament will determine the U-18 futsal national champion. Teams are divided in groups of four in the first preliminary round as the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage.

The two teams advancing to the Final-round were determined in Group A. The host representative, Seiwa Gakuen High School Soccer Club FC (Miyagi) and Sakuyo High School (Chugoku/Okayama) who were both making their fifth straight tournament appearance made it through after each team played two matches. Seiwa FC faced Iizuka High School (Kyushu2/Fukuoka) in their first match as HAMASAKI Tomoya converted a loose ball in front of the goal to give Seiwa FC the opening goal in the sixth minute. Iizuka High School managed to level the match in the 25th minute when MAEDA Yugo scored the equaliser, but Seiwa’s MORIKAWA Leo capitalised on the cross delivered by his fellow teammate SAITO Atsushi in the closing minutes of the match to give Seiwa FC their first victory. The second match saw their ace, MIURA Ryuya get involved with five goals as he scored three while assisted two goals, as Seiwa FC bested Yasu High School (Kansai1/Shiga) 7-1 to record consecutive wins.

Sakuyo High School played their matches at Kamei Arena Sendai, as they swept away Yasu High School in their first match 4-0. In their second match against Iizuka High School, HASHIMOTO Reira, who has been on the shortlist for the U-19 Japan Futsal National Team helped his side win 3-2 with his two goals. As a result, Seiwa FC and Sakuyo High School both clinched their spot into the final-round. In the third and final group stage match on Friday 3 August, the two teams will face each other to determine the Group A leader.

Group B saw Nagoya Oceans U-18 (Tokai/Aichi) making their first appearance since the inaugural tournament and win two matches in a row to put them in the lead to advance through their league. The Nagoya side conceded the opening goal against both Nichinan Gakuen High School (Kyushu1/Miyazaki) and Yaita Chuo High School (Kanto3/Tochigi), but managed to come from behind to win both matches with a mere one goal lead.

The defending Champions, Yaita Chuo High School dropped their first match 2-5 against Seimeigakuin High School (Kansai2/Osaka), before losing to Nagoya Oceans U-18. However, with Nichinan Gakuen High School defeating Seimeigakuin High School 4-3, Yaita Chuo still has a chance to repeat as Champions.

Each team played just one match in Group C, as Chuogakuin High School (Kanto2/Chiba) made their second tournament appearance in three years and defeated Fujikoshi Technical High School (Hokushinetsu 2/Toyama) 2-1. Sapporo Otani High School (Hokkaido1) and Seiwa Gakuen High School Futsal Club (Tohoku/Miyagi) shared a point each after drawing 1-1.

In Group D, Teikyo-Nagaoka High School (Hokushinetsu1/Niigata) who won the tournament two years ago, squared off against last year’s third place finisher Fugador Sumida Falcons (Kanto1/Tokyo). Although the Falcons’ HARA Ryo scored the opening goal in the seventh minute, Teikyo-Nagaoka High School’s HARUYAMA Misaki levelled the match soon after. The Teikyo side showcased their high-level techniques to take the lead and won the match with a final score of 5-2. In the match between Asahikawa-Jitsugyo High School (Hokkaido2) and Takamatsu Commercial High School (Shikoku/Kagawa), the Hokkaido side won the close battle 5-4. The race to the final-round certainly looks to intensify in the coming matches.

On Friday 3 August, the remaining 12 matches of the first round will take place as the eight teams advancing to the final round will be determined. The matches will be streamed live on JFA-TV so please visit the site to watch the young players battle to earn the national title.

Coach and Players' Comments

MIURA Ryuya (Seiwa Gakuen High School Soccer Club FC)
(Regarding his performance of three goals and two assists) My teammates managed to deliver the ball to me when I was unmarked, so I am thankful for their efforts. I must pay them back in our next match. I have confidence in both of my foot skills, so I was anticipating to take early shots before beating the opponents completely. There were scenes where my dribbles were denied, and I am not satisfied with my overall performance. We haven’t been able to advance to the final-round in recent years, so we hope to keep our composure and make a deep run in the tournament.

MIYANO Ryuto (Yaita Chuo High School)
Even though I wasn’t included in the squad for the Kanto qualifiers, I managed to get named into the national tournament squad, so I was committed to earn results. This is the first futsal tournament I have played in. Despite losing the match, we saw some good patterns that worked well in the match against the Nagoya Oceans U-18. Even after losing two straight matches, we still have a chance to advance through to the final-round. We will give our very best as a team tomorrow and strive to become national champions once again.

NAKAI Daiki (Nagoya Oceans U-18)
I am glad that we managed to win two straight matches. Our age group has lost in the final of the Tokai qualifiers for the past two years. So, for our last year in high school, we were committed to make it through the Tokai qualifiers and win the national title. Our coach has demanded from us to fight with the pride as the subordinate organisation of a team who has won the F. League title multiple times. We fought with pride, but at the same time came in as challengers. That is perhaps why we managed to win consecutive matches, so we will take on the matches one at a time until we win the whole tournament.

KITAZUMI Tomohiro, Coach (Fugador Sumida Falcons)
Although we lost our first match, we still have two more matches and we can still clinch our final-round berth with two wins. On the flip-side, we were given the opportunity to see how much we can cope with one of the strongest team in the tournament. We were able to make the observation by taking the risks. We made many tactical changes, while testing our power-plays and the build-ups with the goalkeeper pushing up front. The fact we managed to test all those aspects against the best team there is, gives us great confidence ahead of our remaining matches. We still have other tactics we haven’t shown today, so we hope to perform well in the next two matches and advance through to the final-round.

JFA 5th U-18 Japan Futsal Championship

Tournament Dates: Thu. 2 - Sun. 5 August 2018
Tournament Venue: Xebio Arena Sendai/ Kamei Arena Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture
Tournament Information