Pick Up Match

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18　1-4（1st 0-4、2nd 1-0）　Gamba Osaka Youth

It was under 29.6℃ of heat that Kyoto Sanga F. C. U-18 (Kyoto) and Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) battled against each other. Kyoto got the first win of the season last week while Gamba had been placed 4th with 2-1-1 record.

As they both came out wanting to conclude matches before the break with a win, it was G Osaka which took the first lead. Right after the kick-off, they picked up the ball and went out to the left side. Ichimaru Mizuki drove through close to the goal and Takagi Akito scored off the 1-on-1 against the goalkeeper. “That goal made it easy for us.” said Gamba Osaka’s head coach Umezu Hironari after the match. G Osaka continued their attacks and extended the lead at the 7th minute when Hirao So directly struck a direct free-kick from a spot in front of the goal. They did not stop just yet as Hirao again scored beautifully into the corner of the goal at the 32nd and 6 minutes later Iwamoto Kazuki intercepted the opposition’s ball and went by himself for the 4-0 lead. Meanwhile Kyoto came out for the second half as Kawakatsu Hiroyasu, the head coach, enthusiastically said to the team “We still have 45 minutes left. We will keep playing until the end.” They tried to turn their stellar defence into offense and created some opportunities, but still it was not enough to break down G Osaka’s defence. Finally at the 90th minute, after escaping from the opposition’s attack, Kyoto finally scored back one goal when Okugawa Masaya picked up the ball, drove up the pitch to score. Okugawa recalled after the match, saying “There was no way for us to finish without scoring back anything.”

Even after that Kyoto kept trying, but there came the end of the match. G Osaka with four goals in the first half got the victory against a Kansai region rival and acquired three points.

Comment From Head Coach & Players

KAWAKATSU Hiroyasu, Head Coach（Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18）
We had a break down as a team after losing goals right after the start. After losing those goals, we should have put ourselves together again to fight back, but we couldn’t stop their momentum and kept losing more goals. So the first half pretty much decided the outcome of the match. We have so much to work on. Especially when we are struggling in a match, we are not mentally strong enough to hang in there and fight back. We should never forget this disappointment and frustration. We just have to keep training and get stronger. One lesson at a time, we will keep learning and improving as a team.

OKUGAWA Masaya（Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18）
It would have been a close match if we could have played our style of football. But we couldn’t reset our minds after losing the first goal. Every one of us couldn’t play how we wanted to play because we lost the goals very quickly. Then we kept losing more. We have to be mentally stronger, otherwise we can’t win. (Speaking of the goal scored) I could pick up the ball in a good situation, and there was no way for us to finish without scoring back anything. So I took it all the way. I saw the near side corner was open, and I thought that tall goalkeeper was going to cover that angle, so I tried between his legs. I could get it in.

UMEZU Hironari, Head Coach（Gamba Osaka Youth）
It was very hot, so I thought getting the first lead would be important. I said to players “We will play aggressively.” to get our sprits together before the match. Actually, we could get the first goal early and it made it easy for us. Our game plan in the first was to start defensively, not let them control the pace, get balls and attack quickly. We could do that and scored, so it was very good. In the second half, we wanted to keep attacking without being too defensive. But we lost one goal late, so that’s something we have to correct. We had some more chances early in the second, and we want to be a team that can take advantage of those moments.

IWAMOTO Kazuki（Gamba Osaka Youth）
We got a big lead in the first half. Before we went into the second half, we said to each other “We will play as if it’s a new game with 0-0.” Losing the big lead in the second half was of course possible, so we tried to stay focused until the end. But we lost one goal. When you look at the second half only, we lost it 0-1. We always have to keep our guard high and work on details. If we can’t do that, we can’t win against better teams. Last week, we had a draw in a match we were supposed to win. Today, we lost one goal when we were supposed to score more. So there is a long way to go for me and for this team, too.

Other Results

Nagoya Grampus U18　3-0（1st 1-0、2nd 2-0） Higashiyama High School
Toyama Daiichi High School　0-2（1st 0-2、2nd 0-0）　Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth
Vissel Kobe U-18　0-3（1st 0-0、2nd 0-3）　Higashi Fukuoka High School
Cerezo Osaka U-18　2-1（1st 0-1、2nd 2-0）　Kyoto Tachibana High School

Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi) routed Higashiyama High School (Kyoto) 3-0 with Kajiyama Kanta’s two goals, and now remains on top of the standings without a loss yet in the season. Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima) visited Toyama Daiichi High School (Toyama), scored two in the first half and got the victory. It was their first time in this season to win by holding the opposition scoreless. Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) and Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) played against each other and Akagi Tsubasa’s fifth goal of the season helped Higashi Fukuoka to come out with a win. Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) took on Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto). Maekawa Taiga and Okino Masaki both scored for Cerezo to come back from behind and win the close contest, which placed Cerezo second in the standings after the match.