The second day of the 13th All Japan Seniors (over 50) football tournament was held on Sun. 29 June at Nakasatsunai Village, Kawanishi county Hokkaido. The top ranking team was determined for each group after holding 2nd Sec and 3rd Sec of first round today. Top four teams determined for going through to the final round.

Alfoot Azumino Junior（Nagano）went through Group A. As with the 1st Sec, the 2nd Sec game with Tottori Prefecture Seniro SC50 (Tottori) for ended in draw but they won against Yamanashi Masters Legend (Yamanashi) 2-0 on 3rd Sec. They stepped up to semi-final for getting higher points than Tottori Prefecture Senior SC50 and Hitsujioka Old Kickers 2002 (Hokkaido), aiming to be a champion representing local side of Hokkaido.

After 2nd Sec, Group B was in tight competition with two teams, Hyogo Senior 50 (Hyogo) and Dream Mito Senior FC (Ibaraki), were at the same points and goal difference. In 3rd Sec, Hyogo Senior 50 beat Mie Senior (Mie) 2-0 scoreless. On the other hand, Dream Mito Senior FC won 1-0 against Osu Senior FC (Ehime) but didn’t exceed goal difference which resulted in Hyogo Senior 50 going through to the final round.

Toyopet Club (Tokyo) started the campaign by big win against Tsuruoka Dream 50 (Yamagata) 4-0. As DF Sugamata Tetsuo, ex-Japan National Team player, said “I was sure we can go through to the final round if we can extract our capability”, they won against Fukuoka United (Fukuoka) 2-0 in 2nd Sec, and won against Hiroshima Fifties (Hiroshima) 3-0 on 3rd Sec. Finished Group C with outstanding performance scoring 9 goals and conceding no goals.

In Group D, Aichi Senior 50 (Aichi) beat Fukui Fenix FC Senior (Fukui) 4-0 after marking the first game with win. On the 3rd Sec, they earned one point holding draw with Chitose Fifties Sparrow (Hokkaido) and went through 1st round in the top place. Kyoto 50 selection team (Kyoto) won two games but unfortunately didn’t make it to the final round after finishing in 2nd place.

The venue of last day of the tournament will be moved to Obihiro city for holding semi-finals and the final matches. Another report on the tournament will be available at JFA official site.

Comments

SUGAMATA Tetsuo（Toyopet Club）
It has been 10 years since I joined this team. I couldn’t participate in the team due to my job in halfway, I always wanted to come back to play again because this is fun. It is rewarding to get together as a team for taking part in the nationwide tournament and very happy to win the tournament which our unaccomplished wish last year. Another good thing about the senior tournament is meet the people and enjoy walking in the town. Everyone is busy in week day but we can hold a night time meeting (laugh) during the tournament. It was good to be reunion with the old teammates I used to play with when I was in university. In this tournament, I was pleased to meet and chat with Tanaka Kio (Fukuoka United) who was my teammate back in my university days.

SENBIKI Yoshinori（Fukuoka United）
I just turned 50 this year and joined this team in February. It is my pleasure playing football with those who wants to play football as long as they can and make friends with them and meeting with the guys I used play with.　I have been preparing and training for the tournament as I playing with kids in Giravanz Kitakyushu where I coach. I mainly give them an advice with my voice but I can play a lot in the senior football as a player. I am glad to have a chance to play football no matter how old I get for I started to play football because I like running and kicking the ball.

MUNEMOTO Yoshinori（Fukui Fenix FC Senior）
king adult, it is great to participate in senior football because it has a different adore. In this age, many players have been playing for a long time and have amazing knowledge and skills.  It is really fun playing with them because they can’t play the way they imagine because of losing physical strength but they are so dedicated to play. Out team consists of selected members and it is one of enjoyment to play with guys usually plays against. It was too bad we couldn’t win due to some members couldn’t joint the team for his work. I had a good time watching other team’s level and the players with a high motivation and gave me a lot of lessons.

FUJITA Masami（Mie Senior）
I wish I could win more games. It made the difference in the result, scoring ability and skill for good at winning. We selected players from those playing in senior football in Mie and those who can play the game and practice. Since everyone loves football, it gets cheerful once you win the game because it is fun but it gets depressing if we lose the game just like today. The good thing about senior football is it allows you to keep tensions you had in younger days even you get 50 years or 60 years old. It is fun making friends and has tighter relationship. Because I was disappointed this time, I hope to come back and make every effort to go through the group stage.

JFA-TV

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