The Prince Takamado Trophy 26th All-Japan Youth (U-15) Football Championship now has only four teams standing to play against each other in the semi-finals to take place on Thursday 25 December.

Vissel Kobe U-15 (Kansai 2) who defeated the defending champions Urawa Reds Junior Youth (Kanto 4) will take on Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-15 (Kansai 3). Kobe have shown remarkable persistence including in the last match against Urawa when they allowed Urawa to dominate the pace of the match but kept defending tenaciously until they materialised the one opportunity they found just before the end of the match. Kobe’s head coach Abe Yuta says “It’s not that we can try something new from now on. We will play out our own style.” and the players will try to take care of each possession and build up their offence.

Kyoto, Meanwhile, have won close contests in the past three matches. In the quarter-final against Yokohama F. Malinos Junior Youth (Kanto 3), the first half finished 1-1 and the second half and the extra time couldn’t see the winner, either. Then Kyoto had all five players score in the penalty shootout to squeeze out the win. Their tournament-best defence with the least goals allowed is expected to produce another grinding low-score match against Kobe in the semi-final. Which team score the first goal will certainly be the key for the two teams to get closer to another win and the final appearance.

The other semi-final between Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Junior Youth (Chugoku 1) and FC Tokyo U-15 Fukagawa (Kanto 2) is also a must-see contest. Hiroshima have edged out their opponents all in the extra times or penalty shootouts in this tournament including Cerezo Osaka U-15 (Kansai 1) in the quarter-final and Kashima Antlers Junior Youth (Kanto 7) through the penalty shootout in the second round. Although Hiroshima won the championship at the JFA Premier Cup 2014 supported by NIKE in May, they allowed Shimizu S-Pulse Junior Youth to come back from behind and beat them in the semi-final of the adidas CUP 2014 29th Japan Club Youth Football Championship (U-15) in August. They have their share of disappointment and look to bounce back from there in this tournament. Kawai Ayumu says “We take advantage of our disappointing result in summer, and play hard to win it all this time.”

On the other hand, FC Tokyo’s offensive end has been in their top form as they scored the tournament-most nine goals in the last three matches. Furthermore in the quarter-final against Yokohama F. Malinos Junior Youth Oihama (Kanto 6), FC Tokyo not only scored three goals late in the match but also held their opponents scoreless with their defence. Against Hiroshima, they will want to first take the initiative of the match and score as many goals as they can while they are taking pace.

This year’s tournament now has only three matches left, two semi-finals and the final, and the battles among young U-15 players have come down to their most intense phase. Stay tuned to see which squad come on top of the generation.

Prince Takamado Trophy All Japan Youth (U-15) Football Tournament

Saturday, December 20, 2014 - Saturday December 27, 2014
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