Kashima Antlers Youth　1-0 (0-0, 1-0)　Gamba Osaka Youth

On Saturday 12 December, the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Football League 2015 Championship was held and the EAST champions Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) and the WEST champions Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) went head to head.

The match saw intense battles in front of both goals from the early phase. In the 4th minute, Kashima’s KAKITA Yuki volleyed a corner kick while Gamba Osaka had TAKAGI Akito reacted to a cross from the right flank in the 5th minute. Although both attempts did not materialise, both sides aggressively went for the opener.

Around 15 minutes into the match, Gamba Osaka gradually started prevailing in possessions. In the 23rd minute, Gamba’s individual skills showed when Takagi broke through the left flank by himself for a shot. Kashima, on the other hand, kept Gamba’s ICHIMARU Mizuki and IWAMOTO Kazuki in check to deny vertical passes from them which often ignite Gamba’s attacks. Kashima’s coach KUMAGAI Koji later recalled, saying "those two defensive midfielders are the centrepieces of Gamba’s attack. We tried to hold them down."

After finishing the first half 0-0, Kashima came out aggressively at the beginning of the second half. Totally different from the first half when they stayed low very defensively and their offence relied solely on counter-attacks, the early ball pressure was there to rob Gamba’s ball. In the 56th minute, HIRATO Taiki picked up a missed clearance by the opposing goalkeeper and tried a chip shot. The effort failed, but the moment for the much-awaited opener came two minutes later.

In the 58th minute, Kashima’s NISHIMOTO Takanobu went up the left flank and fed a cross to the middle. Once it deflected off a Gamba defender, but TANAKA Toshiya calmly laid the loose ball home to open the scoring for Kashima.

One goal behind, Gamba started to feeding the more balls to DOAN Ritsu and TAKEDA Taichi, but as Takagi said after the match "we were kept too busy for picking up the long balls," the attacks lacked their full strength up front. Relentless offence is Gamba’s one of the strengths, but they were limited to only firing two shots.

The match heard the final whistle with Kashima maintaining the one goal lead. Kashima’s captain CHIBA Kenta said "we have worked so hard for three years to be the most intense on the ball and never to be outrun by our opponents. And we were able to show what we are made of." Coach Kumagai added "I want to evaluate not only the result but the processes my players have taken. They are the best." The championship celebration was full of joy among all the players and team staff.

Match details (Japanese version only)

Coach and Players' Comments

KUMAGAI Koji, Coach (Kashima Antlers Youth)
As we expected, we were forced to play a very difficult match against such a great team as Gamba Osaka, but we barely managed to win. After our defence got better to a certain degree, we gradually improved throughout the season including forcing on what we do right after we get the ball. And that helped us to win the title.

It’s also satisfying that the communication within our club overall, such as between our junior youth and youth teams and youth and top teams got better by practicing together and sometimes playing against each other. This is the win by the Antlers sprit and the whole Antlers family.

MACHIDA Koki (Kashima Antlers Youth)
When we allowed the opponents to take the ball, we tried to keep them from getting their tempo up. Also it was a big factor that we as a team did not allow their two defensive midfielders who are the key players in the offence to do their job. We could effectively use both styles of defence, putting pressure on the ball early and staying back to take time for organising our formation.

Our coach Kumagai said "we can never be outrun and outhustled. Skills and tactics can only be built upon fundamentals." Including that, we were able to play Kashima’s style of football.

CHIBA Kenta (Kashima Antlers Youth)
It’s our club and it’s Kashima that win at a final match like this. We thought about nothing but defeating our opponents today. Winning this championship reminded me of how good our club are and how happy winning makes us.

I think we could show at least a little bit to our younger players that Kashima are one of those clubs that are supposed to keep winning. I want them to keep winning. (Speaking of coach Kumagai crying for joy) That was the most heartfelt moment today, because it made me look back all the hard work and commitment he made to stay with us for three years and all the obstacles we overcame.

UMEZU Hironari, Coach (Gamba Osaka Youth)
It was disappointing that we couldn’t play a good match today. As Kashima were going to try so hard to eliminate our trademark offensive style, I told my players before the match that we would have to take risks. But I think we lacked some spices in our offence to change the pace here and there such as vertical passes and first-touch passes. Our full-backs on both flanks were about 10 metres lower than usual. And that resulted in us being able to do nothing but pass the ball around in front of the opposing defence.