The 12th Sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2019 EAST took place on Saturday 31 August and Sunday 1 September, where matches were played in various locations. At Urawa Komaba Stadium, Urawa Red Diamonds Youth (Saitama) and Funabashi Municipal High School (Chiba) showcased a heated battle, in which Urawa scored the game winner in the 88th minute to claim the victory.

Pick-up Match

Urawa Red Diamonds Youth 1-0 (0-0, 1-0) Funabashi Municipal High School

With only two points separating Urawa and ninth place Jubilo Iwata U-18 (Shizuoka), while Funabashi Municipal shared equal points with Iwata, this fixture featured two teams desperately needing points to escape the relegation zone. As coach IKEDA Nobuyasu mentioned, “in order to survive at the Premier League, we need three points instead of just one. Both teams entered the match with the same determination,” the match kicked-off under a tense atmosphere.

Urawa’s midfielder TAMASHIRO Taishi (#4) reflected on the match, “there were lots of pressure on us and we played with the responsibility that we cannot afford to lose this match.” While coach Ikeda had preferred starting mostly first and second year players in the Premier League but elected to start many of the third year players in this pivotal match, as he asked his senior players, “we need the strengths of the third year players.”

It was the Urawa side who took the initiative in this match, as they took control of the ball possession to keep Funabashi Municipal in defence. However, Funabashi Municipal showed great persistency in defence to keep away Urawa from creating major opportunities, as Funabashi’s SUZUKI Yuito (#10) later reflected, “it almost felt like we were purposely allowing our opponents to possess the ball, while we played solid defence.”

While Funabashi Municipal sought for their opportunity to break the deadlock in the second half, a sequence of unfortunate events struck them, as both of their defensive midfielders, YAGI Tomoya (#22) and IWATA Kasumi (#14), were forced to sub out of the game with injuries.

Despite the adversity, Funabashi Municipal still managed to create some close opportunities, but it was the Urawa side who took control of the match for most part of the second half, and the deadlock was finally broken in the 88th minute. The goal came when Urawa’s SHIMIZU Gakuto (#6) delivered a cross from the left flank to allow NARITA Anri (#19) to score the pivotal goal.

The final minutes of the match saw the Funabashi side giving all they’ve got to equalise the match, but Urawa responded with great resilience to keep their lead intact, as coach Ikeda later praised his players, “our players fought hard with a strong heart. These players are striving to become professional one day, which is a result oriented world. They must nurture a strong sense of eagerness towards winning matches and that was exactly what they showed today.” With Urawa holding onto their lead, the home side earned a 1-0 victory, which was their first win since the fifth Sec. and gave them a huge step forward to evade relegation.

Coaches and Players' Comments

IKEDA Nobuyasu, Coach (Urawa Red Diamonds Youth)
This match reminded me that it is not an easy task to win matches. It was great to see our substitutes producing positive results for us. It’s not that playing long-balls are a bad thing, but it felt like our vision was too narrow. Our players are capable of playing at a much higher level, so I hope to demand more from my players as we move forward.

DF #3 SHIMIZU Tetta (Urawa Red Diamonds Youth)
I wasn’t able to play in many of our matches up until this point, but I was given the start for the first time this season, so I really wanted to live up to expectations of my coach. I was really nervous, but we managed fight through as a team. We were winless for a while, so this win really feels good. I feel like we were able to mentally take the upper hand against our opponents at the final minutes of the match. 。

HATA Shugo, Coach (Funabashi Municipal High School)
Although we conceded some close chances to our opponents, we did a fine job in defence overall. Losing two of our defensive midfielders in the second half really hurt us. We delivered numbers of through balls down the line, but we weren’t able to create any major threats from those plays. We have our backs against the wall, and we had to earn at least a point today. This was a very regretful match for us.

MF #10 SUZUKI Yuito (Funabashi Municipal High School)
We entered the match with a strong intention to earn three points. Although we allowed our opponents to take control of the ball possession, we still managed to showcase a good performance in defence. We gave up the ball too easily when we conceded the goal. In hindsight, we created numbers of good opportunities in offence, but lacked quality at the final third, so we must work on those aspects to improve ourselves.

Results of other matches

Shimizu S-Pulse Youth 3-2 (3-2, 0-0) Shoshi High School
Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School 3-2 (0-1, 3-1) Jubilo Iwata U-18
Aomori Yamada High School 2-2 (1-1, 1-1) Omiya Ardija U18
Kashima Antlers Youth 1-0 (1-0, 0-0) Kashiwa Reysol U-18

Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka) earned their first win in eight matches after prevailing in a heated battle against Shoshi High School (Fukushima). Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School (Chiba) scored the game winner in the 90th minute to win over Jubilo Iwata U-18 (Shizuoka). Despite giving up the lead twice to Omiya Ardija U18 (Saitama), league leaders, Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) equalised the match in the second half to squeeze out a point. Second place, Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) conceded an early goal to Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) and lost the match 0-1.

Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2019

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

League Information