On Saturday 18 March, the semi-finals of the JFA 28th Japan Futsal Championship took place at Komazawa Olympic Park in Tokyo, where both matches went down to the wire.

The first match kicked-off at noon, with Nagoya Oceans (F1/Aichi), the champions of the F. League 2022-23 season, facing Shonan Bellmare (F1/Kanagawa), who finished fifth in the league.

The match started with Nagoya, who are seeking to complete the season triple crown, score back to back goals in the early minutes, as DARLAN and HIRATA Neto Antonio Massanori each scored from a corner kick. Although Shonan’s TAKAHASHI Kodai managed to score back a goal, the F1 champions added two more goals to finish the first period with a 4-1 lead.

Despite being completely dominated by Nagoya in the first period, Shonan started the second period with great aggression as KITAI Genki later reflected, “During halftime, we urged each other to do better and reminded ourselves that we can still turn the match around.” Led by a goal scored by their goalkeeper FIUZA in the fourth minute, Shonan equalised the game with goals of RODRIGO and UCHIMURA Shunta in the 13th and 14th minutes respectively.

With less than three minutes remaining on the clock, Shonan deployed their power play, which led to the goal scored by TSURUYA Haruto in the 40th minute. Now trailing for the first time in the match, Nagoya scored back from a powerplay of their own, when ANDRESITO found the back of the net to send the match into overtime.

After the two sides exchanged a goal apiece in the second period of overtime, the match entered a penalty shootout to determine the winner, where Shonan made all four of their spot kicks to edge Nagoya 4-3, reaching the Japan Futsal Championship final for the first time in 13 years.

The match between Y.S.C.C. Yokohama (F1/Kanagawa), who reached the semi-finals for the first time, and Fugador Sumida (F1/Tokyo), who are aiming to reach their second final in three tournaments, was a low-scoring game in contrast to the first match.

In a match-up of teams who know each other well, Sumida held off YS Yokohama's ace TSUTSUMI Yuta, while YS Yokohama did not let Sumida's ace SHIMIZU Kazuya get the job done. Although Sumida had an early chance to score from the second penalty spot, after YS Yokohama committed five fouls as a team, HOSHI Ryuta was unable to convert the spot kick.

After a scoreless first and second period, the closely contested match went into overtime, where Sumida broke the deadlock in the first period. The goal came in the third minute, when NAKADA Shuto, who had scored four goals in the quarterfinal match against Bardral Urayasu (F1/Chiba), received the ball from Shimizu and fired a sharp shot into the net. Despite the late surge made by YS Yokohama, Sumida managed to hold onto their lead to win the match 1-0.

As a result, the final, to be kicked off at 13:00 on Sunday 19, has been set between Shonan and Sumida. Both have won the competition in their predecessor teams, but neither has won the title since the F. League started in 2007. Stay tuned to find out which team will win the coveted title.

Players' Comments

FP #14 NISHITANI Ryosuke (Nagoya Oceans)
To be honest, it felt like we were unlucky rather than being beaten. We knew ahead of time, but that was the fear that came with Shonan’s ability to create big waves. It is hard to pinpoint what went wrong, but I think that is the difficulty of playing in the Japan Futsal Championship. We gave our all, but our opponents were simply the better team today.

GK #87 FIUZA (Shonan Bellmare)
We all knew the significance of today’s match. Nagoya is clearly the best team in Japan, but we were determined to give our all and fight with a strong spirit. Overcoming a 1-4 deficit is not an easy task, but I feel like I was able to give our side momentum with my goal. It's also very big that the players who should be scoring scored goals today. Tomorrow will be another really important match, so we will rest well and give our 100% effort. I will do my best with 200% effort.

FP #29 TSUTSUMI Yuta (Y.S.C.C. Yokohama)
We saw many shots hitting the goal post in this match, which made me sense that “whoever scores first will win the match.” It turned out that our opponents scored that decisive goal, and I deeply regret that I couldn’t help our team win. No matter how many times we threaten our opponents, it doesn’t mean anything if we cannot score goals, so this loss is on me.

FP #36 NAKADA Shuto (Fugador Sumida)
We intended to start the game defensively because we were aware of how talented Yokohama is. We made an effort to maintain composure and play aggressively in front of our goal because we anticipated a low-scoring game. I didn’t care who scores the goal, as long it was for our side, but the opportunity presented itself to me. I think it was the result of me making conscious efforts towards the goal. Shonan is a team that can really ride the momentum, so we hope to shut them down by playing like we did today.

【Highlights】Nagoya Oceans vs Shonan Bellmare

【Highlights】Y.S.C.C. Yokohama vs Fugador Sumida

JFA 28th Japan Futsal Championship

Tournament dates: Sat. 11 - Sun. 19 March 2023
Tournament venue: Ecopa Arena (Shizuoka), Kishiwada City Gymnasium (Osaka), Kobe Central Gymnasium (Hyogo), Komazawa Olympic Park (Tokyo)

Tournament information