Pick Up Match

Nagoya Grampus U18　2-1（1st 1-0、2nd 1-1）　Higashi Fukuoka High School

The league-leading Nagoya Grampus Under-18 (Aichi) and a fourth-place Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka), both of whom had posted three-game winning streak, played a thrilling, close battle contest. Because rain dropped before the kickoff, the pitch was slippery. Yet some 400 spectators assembled to watch the match at Toyota Sports Centre in a hot, humid weather.

It was Higashi Fukuoka, who created scoring opportunities early on. They attacked around a fast-footed Masuyama Asahi and threatened their opponents. But Nagoya managed to survive and eventually gain the momentum back. On 31st minute, Nagoya received a free kick as their captain Sakurai Subaru's cross hit a had of an opposing player. A shot that Aoyama Hiroaki, who'd scored three goals until this game this season, deflected an opposing defender and went into the net. Nagoya got on the board first.

As the sky cleared up and the humidity went up in the second half, in the periods that both teams showed some fatigue, Nagoya again came through. On 75th minute, Aoyama, who received a pass from Kawasaki Kentaro, scored to give his team a 2-0 lead. ''We gave up another goal to the opponents and it gave us some mental damage, and our players couldn't move as well as we had,'' said Morishige Junya, head coach for Higashi Fukuoka, who now tried to rally back by putting fresh players in. On 42nd minute, it paid off as Nakashima Kensei reacted to a Fujii cross before the goal, and then Nakamura put it into the goal to erase the gap to one goal. It gave Higashi Fukuoka some energy back and tried to equal the match. But Nagoya defence kept playing physically, maintaining their concentration, and preserved the lead until the end. Nagoya grabbed the victory and added a few more points in the standings.

Comments

TAKADA Tetsuya, Head Coach, Nagoya Grampus U18
We came in the game, telling our guys to put up what we've done. The humidity was high and the players seemed heavy, but it was huge for us to strike first. It was irrelevant on the last goal given up. But we would have allowed the opponents to turn the tables had it been last year, but this year our players communicated with each other and kept their patience even in the inferior situation, so I would like to give a credit to ourselves. I think that each and every member has been able to play, understanding his own role now.

AOYAMA Hiroaki, Nagoya Grampus U18
Partially because the Higashi Fukuoka players were in fine tunes, we were forced to play a difficult game. We lost our movements toward the end and it is something we have to improve on. When we lost our physical moment, we have got to be on the same page regarding how to have our defence, otherwise we will allow goals when the game is one line like we did today. Since we scored in a favorable time of the game, it would have been better had we scored our third goal in the end. We are all saying that we want to advance to the championship match, so we want to keep our undefeated feat as long as we can. I believe this team is capable of doing it.

MORISHIGE Junya, Head Coach, Higashi Fukuoka High School
Because it was against the team who were running atop in the standings, in order for us to take that spot in the second half of the season, we entered the game, telling our guys that we would definitely go for getting the winning points through this game. But Nagoya wouldn't let us play our own game. The opposing players had concentration, and they were also hard on getting the ball. We entered halftime with one goal behind, we should have been more careful on the second half's first goal.

MASUYAMA Asahi, Higashi Fukuoka High School
Because we took on the league-leading Nagoya, we entered the game, talking to ourselves that we would definitely play for the win, but honestly their front line players were better. When we had our offence, they wouldn't let it work. Their defence was hard on us, but still we could have used our other guys around so we could have outnumbered them when I had the ball. Taking advantage of the reflections from today's game, we would like to come up with results we want in the remaining matches.

Other Results

Kyoto Tachibana High School　1-6（1st 1-4、2nd 0-2）　Gamba Osaka Youth
Cerezo Osaka U-18　2-0（1st 2-0、2nd 0-0）　Toyama Daiichi High School
Higashiyama High School　1-4（1st 0-2、2nd 1-2）　Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth
Vissel Kobe U-18　3-4（1st 1-1、2nd 2-3）　Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18

Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto), who had been winless this year, took on Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka). Takagi Akito capped a hat trick and Gamba had a 6-0 rout. Cerezo Osaka Under-18 (Osaka) gave up any goals and defeated Toyama Daiichi High School (Toyama) at home, posting consecutive victories. Higashiyama High School (Kyoto) sought to get out of their losing skid, but were unable to halt Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth (Hiroshima), who had been in their winning streak, allowing four goals in a loss. Vissel Kobe Under-18 (Hyogo) and Kyoto Sanga FC Under-18 (Kyoto), both of whom were desperate for a win, played a sublime attacking fest. But Kyoto, who were training 2-3 at one point, rallied back to take it with goals from Okugawa Masaya and Onishi Yuki in the end.