The 18th sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2022 WEST took place on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October. At Ibuki Forest Football Ground, third placed Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) squared off against second placed Jubilo Iwata U-18 (Shizuoka).

Featured Match

Vissel Kobe U-18 5-0 (3-0, 2-0) Jubilo Iwata U-18

“A win here would get us closer to the title, so everyone was fired up for this match,” said HONMA Justin (#18), as Kobe showed great intensity from the outset.

One of the key factors of the match was the pressure applied from the front line, as Kobe’s coach ABE Yuta commented, “We often face teams with a four-back formation in the Premier League West, so we had to prepare differently against Iwata, who plays with a three-back formation.” With TOMINAGA Niina (#9) applying aggressive pressure against Iwata’s build-ups, Kobe effectively exploited the open spaces in the flanks to create chances.

Tominaga opened the action by converting the cross sent by Honma in the 19th minute. NAGASAWA Mikaze (#10) followed in the 29th minute when he capitalised on a loose ball just inside the box, before setting up the goal of SAKAMOTO Shoi (#17) in the 43rd minute.

“Including myself, we all looked stiff in the early minutes. We needed to be patient, but we were overwhelmed by our opponents and ended up conceded multiple goals before we were able to adjust ourselves,” said KAMETANI Akiya (#8), as Iwata used halftime to make the necessary adjustments.

Although Iwata managed to create more plays in the attacking third, it also opened the door for Kobe to counterattack. In the 52nd minute, Honma redirected the corner kick delivered from the right side to setup the goal of Sakamoto. ADACHI Shuto (#8) was fouled inside the box in the 65th minute, which led to the PK converted by Tominaga to make it 5-0.

As Adachi later reflected, “We managed to score early in the second half, so we didn’t have to take unnecessary risks from that point on,” Kobe comfortably possessed the ball to earn themselves a 5-0 victory. With the team now within striking distance for the top two spots of the league, Adachi also commented, “Our goal is to win the title, so this win is huge for us. We will continue to rack up points to contend for the title.”

Coaches and Players' Comments

ABE Yuta, Coach (Vissel Kobe U-18)
The players did well to execute the game plan we had prepared for this match. We conceded a late equaliser last week, so regardless of the score, I am glad we managed to close out the match strong today. The players were well aware that we had to start with solid defence. All and all, I feel like we were fortunate that a lot of things went our way today, including the goals we scored in the second half. We will have to continue to work hard in order to reproduce the performance we showed today. We still have a long way to go before we are competing for the title, so we must first focus on winning the match in front of us.

MF #8 ADACHI Shuto (Vissel Kobe U-18)
We conceded a later equaliser to draw against Hiroshima last week, which turned out to be huge because Tosu also drew that week. We missed on our opportunity to close down the gap with the league leaders, so we were really fired up to win this week. We tend to concede goals when we are dropping back, so we made conscious efforts to keep the pressure on from our frontline, which turned out to be effective in this match.

MAEDA Ryoichi, Coach (Jubilo Iwata U-18)
We were overwhelmed by our opponents throughout the match. We managed to make adjustments in the second half but conceded from a set-piece that gave the momentum back to our opponents. This match reminded us that we need to improve the overall quality of our plays in both offence and defence. We weren’t able win the ball in defence and couldn’t possess the ball to initiate our offence. We’ll work on those things and try to bounce back next week.

MF #8 KAMETANI Akiya (Jubilo Iwata U-18)
We really needed the three points to extend the lead against Kobe and to close the gap between Tosu, so this is a very disappointing result. We finished with only two shots, so we need to increase the variations of our attacks. We have six more matches left to play, but we probably need to win all of them to have a chance of winning the title. Our goal is to reach the Premier League Final, so we need to showcase a performance that deserves to be on that stage. We must make the most of this loss to get better.

Results of other matches

Riseisha High School 1-0 (1-0, 0-0) Higashi Fukuoka High School
Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth 1-1 (1-1, 0-0) Shimizu S-Pulse Youth
Sagan Tosu U-18 2-3 (0-0, 2-3) Nagoya Grampus U-18
Shizuoka Gakuen High School 4-4 (3-1, 1-3) Cerezo Osaka U-18
Ozu High School 2-1 (1-0, 1-1) Gamba Osaka Youth

The match between two high school sides, Riseisha High School (Osaka) and Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka), FURUTA Kazunosuke (#9) scored the only goal of the match in the 21st minute to give Riseisha three points. Despite conceding the lead to Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka), Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima) managed to walk away with a point, thanks to the equaliser scored by NAKAGAWA Hagumu (#29). Nagoya Grampus U-18 (Aichi) overcame a two goal deficit to beat the league leaders Sagan Tosu U-18 (Saga). Shizuoka Gakuen High School (Shizuoka) conceded three goals in the second half to draw with Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka). Ozu High School (Kumamoto) defeated Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) thanks to the goals scored by their two forwards, YAMASHITA Motonari (#11) and KOBAYASHI Shunei (#9).

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Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2022

League Duration: Sat. 2 April - Sun. 4 December 2022

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