The 3rd All Japan Seniors (over 40) Football Tournament is to start in Sakai, Osaka on Saturday 14 November. This article will take a look back at the previous tournament.

The 16 teams, who survived the regional qualifying round across the country, participated in the second Tournament, in which they were divided into four groups for the first round. Only the top team of each group advanced to the knockout stage to decide the winner.

In group A, Okinawa Senior Selection (Kyushu/Okinawa) won a sweeping victory over Muroran Senior 40 Soccer Club (Hokkaido) 5-0 in the 3rd Sec, showing off their attacking ability. They beat Lazos Koga FC (Kanto 3/Ibaraki) with one point difference to top the group.

Nicols FC Seniors, which represented the host city Osaka, was in group B. Although they drew with Matsumoto Yamaga FC Masters (Hokushinetsu 1/Nagano) 0-0 in the 1st Sec, earning one point, they lost consecutive matches after that, and finished in last place. Matsumoto Yamaga, on the other hand, could not beat Mie Masters (Tokai 2/ Mie) to top the group, because they failed to earn three points in the 1st Sec.

In group C, Aichi Selection Masters Ov40 (Tokai 1/Aichi), who played a fierce match against T-Dreams (Kanto 2/Tokyo), topped the group to advance to the final round. Both of the teams were level on seven points, but Aichi won against FC Primeiro Fukushima Legends (Tohoku/Fukushima) with six goals in the 2nd Sec, which led them to top T-Dreams on goal difference.

Tatebayashi Senior 40 SC (Kanto 1/Gunma) displayed their solid defence in group D. They won three consecutive games, not letting Kyoto Senior 40 (Kansai/Kyoto) in second place catch up, and earned a place in the final round.

Both of the semi-finals were really close games. IWAKI Hiroyuki struck the opener for Aichi after three minutes in the match against Tatebayashi. Aichi kept the lead until the final whistle and won the game 1-0, getting through to the final.The other semi-final was between Okinawa and Mie. Although Mie created some goal-scoring opportunities at the beginning, the score stayed at 0-0. In the second half, Okinawa gradually picked up their pace. After 22 minutes, TAKARA Kiyokazu struck the opener and Okinawa won the game 1-0.

Despite the fact that the final was the fifth match in this tournament for both Okinawa and Aichi, none of the players showed their fatigue, and impressed the crowd. Aichi took the initiative at the beginning and pressed towards Okinawa’s goal, attacking from the wings.

The match stayed scoreless until the fourth minute in the second half. Then TOCHISHITA Masashi from Aichi slotted a loose ball from a set piece into the goal, striking the opener. Okinawa were eager to attack back, substituting the players aggressively. However, Aichi attacked once more when Okinawa’s players pressed forward. After 28 minute, TOMURA Masahiro, who initiated a counter-attack, struck the deciding goal. Aichi continued to take the initiative, and won the game 2-0, becoming the strongest team of Japan in their generation.

The 3rd All Japan Seniors (over 40) Football Tournament

2015-11-14 (Sat.) - 16 (Mon.)
J-GREEN Sakai/Sakai City Osaka
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