Pick-up Match

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18   1-5 (0-4, 1-1)   Nagoya Grampus U18

The 2nd match of the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League WEST was held on Saturday 16 April and Sunday 17 April in Kyoto. Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto) played against Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi).

Both of the teams had lost in their first game this season and were eager to earn a victory. Nagoya took the initiative first. After 20 minutes, TANAKA Shoma, who got through on the right side, sent a cross towards the goal, where FUKAHORI Shumpei reacted to it and struck the opener. As the coach YAMAZAKI Makoto commented: ‘I expected attacks from the wings would work’, Nagoya continued to create numerous goal-scoring opportunities from the wings. KAJIYAMA Kanta noted later: ‘we could react well to loose balls’. The team did not let the opponent attack. Nagoya pushed hard and Fukahori scored his second goal in the 27th minute. After 42 minutes, SUGITA Masahiro headed home, adding more insurance, followed by Tanaka’s shot from the right side only three minutes later. The game went into the second half at 4-0.

Nagoya built up positive momentum in the first half. Kyoto, on the other hand, needed to adjust their attack, just as the coach MORIOKA Ryuzo explained: ‘as soon as we managed to initiate an attack, we conceded a goal and couldn’t find our rhythm.’ The coach sent SHIMAMURA Takuya to the pitch at the beginning of the second half with the expectation that he would perform impressively. Then in the 58th minute, Shimamura dribbled up and sent a forward pass. HATTORI Kohei ran towards the ball, striking an easy goal. Although Kyoto were eager to begin their attack after their first goal, Nagoya got through the left side and Fukahori succeeded in getting his hat trick in the 61st minute. Nagoya won the game 5-1.

Coach and Players' Comments

MORIOKA Ryuzo, Coach (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18)
Despite the fact the team has focused on moving the ball around well this year more than ever, they were intercepted in a badly today. The opponent had an excellent defence and kept a good distance between players, but I think we let them steal the ball when we shouldn’t have. The players are mentally strong this year with an ability to play hard until the final whistle. So I hope they will play hard from now on. We’d like to prepare to stay in the top group.

HATTORI Kohei  (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18)
Although it was my first game after joining the U-18 team, I didn’t feel nervous at all, and thought only about scoring to lead the team to a victory. However, I hesitated a bit and couldn’t move well enough. I couldn’t contribute to the team. When I scored, I could display my strength – an aggressive attitude towards the goal. Despite the pleasure of scoring, I know I need to become the kind of player, who can impact the game when the team is under pressure. So I can’t be that satisfied after today’s game. I’d like to score a goal in the next game too, so that I can lead my team to win.

YAMAZAKI Makoto, Coach (Nagoya Grampus U18)
After losing the opening match 3-0, we have been practicing really hard this week. Having said that, we haven’t tried anything special. We reviewed seriously what we learned in the game against Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School, and went through ‘playing systematically both in attack and defence’, which we’d been focusing on since January. We’re relieved that we could win a game for the first time this season. However, today’s match is over. So we’d like to refresh our minds to prepare for the coming mutch.

KAJIYAMA Kanta  (Nagoya Grampus U18)
We all had the same aim in mind and practiced hard to ‘prepare at our best’ this week after our defeat in the 1st match. As we prepared well, we could play as we had planned from the beginning of the game today. In the first half, we reacted to a loose ball to initiate a counter-attack. In the second half, although we conceded a goal, we gathered ourselves to score again. I’d like to point out that we didn’t get demoralised when the opponent scored. I’d like to continue to play like we did today.

Other Matches

Gamba Osaka Youth   4-0 (0-0, 4-0)   Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School
Cerezo Osaka U-18   2-1 (2-0, 0-1)   Vissel Kobe U-18
Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth   <Postpone>   Oita Trinita U-18
Ozu High School   <Postpone>   Higashi Fukuoka High School

Both Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) and Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School (Hyogo) aimed to win two consecutive games. Kobe Koryo were tenacious in defence just like in their first match and kept a clean sheet in the first half. In the second half, however, G Osaka took the initiative. In the 52nd minute, MATSUMOTO Ayumu struck the opener, followed by three more goals. G Osaka won the game 4-0.

Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka), who played against Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) at home, scored two goals from NAKAJIMA Motohiko and YAMADA Hiroto’s shots in the first half. Although the opponent closed the gap to one goal in the second half, the team sustained their lead to earn consecutive victories.

The match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima) and Oita Trinita U-18 (Oita), and the one between Ozu High School (Kumamoto) and Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) were postponed due to an earthquake.

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