The 13th Sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2019 WEST took place on Sunday 15 and Monday 16 September, where Ozu High School (Kumamoto) squared off against Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka).

Pick-up Match

Ozu High School 1-1 (0-1, 1-0) Cerezo Osaka U-18

It was Cerezo Osaka who took the initiative. In contrast to their usual football style, where they build their plays by connecting passes in their defence line, the Osaka side mixed in lots of long balls to utilise the width of the field, as their forward SHINBO Kairi (#20) later reflected, “we made our decision on the field to play more offensively.” Their aggressive approach led to an early opportunity, as Shinbo responded to a cross delivered by YASUOKA Yoshiki (#28) to strike a header in the ninth minute, but his attempt went off the goal post. With Cerezo taking control of the match, Ozu defended with five players dropping back, but their defence was breached in the 29th minute, when they gave up a penalty kick. The spot kick taken by Shinbo was initially blocked by the goalkeeper, but the Cerezo striker converted the deflection to give his side a 1-0 lead.

Despite conceding the lead, the players of Ozu remained to play with great composure. Team captain NONO Kimito (#10) mentioned of his team’s maturation, “we saw ourselves conceding multiple goals after giving up one goal in the first half of the season, but we have shown great resilience to score back goals in the second half of the season, so we kept telling each other to stay calm.” The Kumamoto side entered the second half by bringing in ARAKI Yoshito (#29) and MORITA Daichi (#31), and changed their formation from 3-6-1 to 4-4-2. They applied aggressive pressure from the front line and initiated their attacks from the flanks. In the 47th minute, their striker, HANDAI Masato (#9) fired a header from a corner kick, followed by another attempt made in the 59th minute, but fell short from scoring the equaliser.

The long awaited moment for Ozu arrived in the 75th minute. The play was initiated by their goalkeeper FUKUYAMA Shoki (#1), as Handai posted up to feed the ball to Nono. The team captain later reflected on this play, “I usually try to go with a passing play in those situations, but my legs were getting tired, so I elected to strike a shot as hard as I can.” The shot taken by Nono pierced the Cerezo goal and gave Ozu the equaliser. With momentum on their side, Ozu continued to attack, but Cerezo’s goalkeeper ORIGUCHI Teruki (#21) made superb saves to keep the tie score intact, as the two teams ended up sharing a point apiece.

Coaches and Players' Comments

HIRAOKA Kazunori, Head Coach (Ozu High School)
Our plan was to defend tight in the first half while changing our system to attack in the second half. We managed to execute our game plan, but I feel like their goalkeeper had the upper hand today. It was a match we could have won, but our players played with great aggression to earn a point. Through this season at the Premier League, our players have developed a sense of persistency to fight back even after conceding goals.

DF #5 TATENO Wataru (Ozu High School)
After losing at the Inter-High School Championships we have been able to execute our game plans and we are undefeated in the second half of the season. After winning against Vissel Kobe U-18 last week, we were looking to win back-to-back matches. We had confidence in our endurance, so we wanted to keep the match tied at 0-0 during the first half and seek for our opportunity in the second half, but that early goal we conceded turned out to be a big goal. It was great that we managed to level the match, but we need to strive to reach a higher level, so that we can score one more goal in these matches.

KAIMOTO Keiji, Coach (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
The players have been working extremely hard in all of our matches. They have shown great efforts in today’s match as well. Although we managed to take the lead in the first half, we struggled against the opponent’s aggression and failed to connect our passes in the second half. It is my responsibility as a coach to allow my players to have the courage to fight through the entire match, but I feel like I wasn’t able to do that in today’s match. It made me realise that I must also improve along with my players to become a better coach. It isn’t about making just one simple fix, so we will work to improve ourselves in a much broader sense.

FW #20 SHINBO Kairi (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
We elected to utilise many long balls in today’s match, so I focused on positioning myself as high as possible. It was great that I was able to make more sprints than usual. After striking the post in the early minutes of the match, I had a feeling that I was going to get another opportunity. Although my shot was initially blocked by the goalkeeper, I am glad I was able to convert that penalty. I have only been able to score one goal this season and I was desperately needing more goals, so I was relieved to score that goal. However, Ozu was a team we lost to in the first half of the season, so we really wanted to win today’s match.

Results of other matches

Vissel Kobe U-18 4-3 (2-1, 2-2) Avispa Fukuoka U-18
Higashi Fukuoka High School 0-1 (0-0, 0-1) Gamba Osaka Youth
Nagoya Grampus U-18 6-1 (5-1, 1-0) Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18
Ehime FC U-18 U-18 0-2 (0-1, 0-1) Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth

Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) welcomed Avispa Fukuoka U-18 (Fukuoka) to their home and prevailed in the heated battle that saw a total of seven goals. League leaders Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) held onto their second half goal to win over Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka). Nagoya Grampus U-18 (Aichi) scored five goals in the first half alone to win over Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto). Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima) scored one goal apiece in each half to win an away match 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