The 11th Sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2019 WEST took place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August, where Nagoya Grampus U-18 (Aichi) faced Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka).

Pick-up Match

Nagoya Grampus U-18 7-0 (1-0, 6-0) Higashi Fukuoka High School

With the match being their first match following the season break, Nagoya’s forward MURAKAMI Yukito (#11) mentioned, “we entered the match with a strong intention to win the match so that we can get ourselves a step closer to the title,” but struggled to apply enough pressure and gave up opportunities to Higashi Fukuoka in the early minutes of the match. The Fukuoka side created their chances by collecting the ball to their forward NAGANO Shoki (#27) and used the width of the field to threaten the Nagoya goal. In the 28th minute, Nagano came close to scoring the opening goal, but Nagoya’s goalkeeper HIGASHI John (#16) made a great save to stop the shot. Following this shot, Nagoya’s two centre halves, USHIZAWA Takeshi (#3) and SUMI Seiga (#15) showcased their persistency to keep Higashi Fukuoka from creating further opportunities, as Ushizawa later reflected, “as long as we didn’t concede a goal, we knew our offence would get us ahead in this match.”

As the match progressed, TANABE Kosei (#10) and SAKAKIBARA Kyota (#8) displayed their superiority in the midfield to increase the ball possession for Nagoya. As Ushizawa mentioned, “we are always striving to showcase a football style where we can win 5-0, and the entire squad is anticipating to score goals at all times,” the two fullbacks, ISHIDA Ryotaro (#9) and ARATAMA Eiru (#6) penetrated the flanks to add layers to the Nagoya offence. The opening goal came in the 42nd minute, when Murakami received the ball from ISHIGAI Koki (#14) before striking a shot that shook the net.

With momentum on their side, Nagoya went onto a goal spree in the second half. Following the 48th goal scored by TOYODA Koki (#24), Nagoya captured two more goals before the 70th minute mark. After utilising all of their substitutions to bring out fresh legs, Nagoya scored three more goals within the final 15 minutes to win the match with a final score of 7-0.

Coaches and Players' Comments

KOGA Satoshi, Coach (Nagoya Grampus U-18)
Although we managed to showcase our dominance at the end of the first half, the score did not reflect our performance, as we ended the half 1-0. We allowed our opponents to create numbers of opportunities, and it felt like our opponents had the better half overall. With the team striving for an attacking style of football, the defenders must cover a wider range and showcase a more persistent effort, as we gave up too many opportunities to our opponents today. We will continue to strive for a football style where all of our players get involved with the ball to suppress our opponents. The players must always try to retrieve the ball after losing possession and add more layers to our attacks, just like how we did in today’s first goal.

FW #11 MURAKAMI Yukito (Nagoya Grampus U-18)
We entered the match with the intention to execute our team’s football style, where the entire team gets involved in both our offence and defence. We are striving to win the match 5-0, so even when we had a commanding lead, we kept telling each other to score more goals. I was injured for a while, so this was my first official match of the season. Although I was happy when the team won the Japan Club Youth Football Championship, I was also disappointed because I wasn’t able to play on the pitch. I wanted to express that bitterness, my gratefulness towards everybody who supported me, and the feelings of our reserve members in this match, so I am glad that we were able to win this match.

MORISHIGE Junya, Coach (Higashi Fukuoka High School)
When we saw the match films of Nagoya, we were overwhelmed by their speed and techniques, and we knew that we wouldn’t stand a chance against them. That is why I made my players focus on their positionings and decision makings, in order to put up a good fight against a superior opponent. We wanted to keep a clean sheet while we anticipated for our opportunities to penetrate the flanks with our counterattacks, but we fell short from executing our game plans. Considering our current form, we did well until we conceded the opening goal, but I believe that the end result reflects our overall performance.

MF #17 AOKI Shunsuke (Higashi Fukuoka High School)
We managed to maintain our composure in the first half to limit the damage to just one goal. However, we lost the ball too easily and failed to manage the risks in the second half. If we could have converted the early opportunities, the result might’ve been very different. We are currently struggling badly, so we really need to get out of this slump. I personally need to earn more results, too. If I can start scoring more goals, that would certainly help the team win matches as well.

Results of other matches

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 4-0 (1-0, 3-0) Vissel Kobe U-18
Cerezo Osaka U-18 2-1 (1-1, 1-0) Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth
Ozu High School 2-2 (1-2, 1-0) Avispa Fukuoka U-18
Gamba Osaka Youth 8-0 (2-0, 6-0) Ehime FC U-18

After scoring three goals in the closing minutes of the match, league leader Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto) cruised past Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo). Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) scored the game winner in the 79th minute to defeat Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima) at home. The two Kyushu sides, Ozu High School (Kumamoto) and Avispa Fukuoka U-18 (Fukuoka), scored two goals apiece to share a point. Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) scored eight goals to earn a sweeping victory against Ehime FC U-18 (Ehime).

Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2019

League Duration: Sat. 6 April - Sun. 8 December 2019

League Information