International Friendly Match
Wed. 6 August 2014 16:00 Kick Off 90 minutes（45 minutes halves）
Croatia Pitch(Tokamachi, Niigata）

U-16 Japan National Team　2-0（1st 0-0, 2nd 2-0）U-16 Iran National Team

Scores
69 min NISHIMOTO Takanobu （U-16 Japan）
84 min NISHIMOTO Takanobu （U-16 Japan）

Starters
GK: TSURUTA Kaito
DF: KOGA Taiyo, ASADA Shogo, SHIMOGUCHI Wakaba, ISHIKAWA Hiroto
MF: WATANABE Kouta, FUJIMOTO Kanya, HITAKA Keisuke
FW: YASUI Takuya, KANAZAWA Ryuta, SASAKI Takumi

Substitues
GK: UEDA Asato, CHIDA Keito, WAKAHARA Tomoya
DF: KATO Jun, DOAN Ritsu, TANAKA Kosuke,  MORIOKA Riku, NISHIMOTO Takanobu,  SAKIMURA Yusuke
MF: KAJIYAMA Kanta, SUGA Daiki, TANAKA Ao, FUJIKAWA Kotaro
FW: TACHIKAWA Rei, HANYA Yosuke, SUGIURA Fumiya, NAGASAWA Ryousuke

19 min　 KANAZAWA Ryuta　→　TACHIKAWA Rei
29 min　 WATANABE Kouta　→　KATO Jun
39 min　 HITAKA Keisuke　→　FUJIKAWA Kotaro
HT　　   TSURUTA Kaito　→　WAKAHARA Tomoya
HT　　   TACHIKAWA Rei →　HANYA Yosuke
HT　　   FUJIMOTO Kanya　→　NISHIMOTO Takanobu
HT　　   SHIMOGUCHI Wakaba　→　MORIOKA Riku
HT　　   ASADA Shogo　→　SAKIMURA Yusuke
HT　　   ISHIKAWA Hiroto　→　TANAKA Kosuke
60 min　 KATO Jun　→　KAJIYAMA Kanta
60 min　 YASUI Takuya　→　TANAKA Ao
65 min　 KOGA Taiyo　→　DOAN Ritsu
75 min　 SASAKI Takumi→　SUGA Daiki

Match Report
The match was set against U-16 Iran National Team, who will also take up the Asian Qualifiers in September. Before the match, Sekiguchi Yoshifumi, the mayor of Tokamachi where the camp is being held, made an appearance to welcome the teams, present commemorative gifts and take a ceremonial photograph with the teams.

The match turned out to be a very interesting battle to watch. While Iran sent many long balls up front and relied on their individual techniques to break through the Japanese defence, 98JAPAN played tenacious defence in high positions and rushed at the opponent’s goal with crisp passes.

The first half ended 0-0 after both teams couldn’t convert good opportunities into a goal. After the break, Japan further intensified their passing accuracy. In the 69th minute, Nishimoto Takanobu (Kashima Antlers Youth) ran through and put it into the net with great composure after receiving the ball from Hanya Yosuke (FC Tokyo U-18).

Against the opponent, who gradually slowed down, Japan increased their ball possession. And in the 84th minute, Doan Ritsu (Gamba Osaka Youth) delivered a perfect timing cross ball toward Nishimoto, giving Japan a 2-0 lead.

Japan’s defence, including Sakimura Yusuke (Avispa Fukuoka U-18) who was substituted in at the centre back in the second half, hanged on against Iran’s desperate offense. The match remained 2-0 until the end as Japan won the first match.

For the team who repeatedly lost last-minute goals in the recent matches, this showdown certainly brought them big confidence before the final qualifiers.
Japan will have training after one day break to prepare for the second match on 8 August.

Comments

YOSHITAKE Hirofumi, Head Coach
That was a great match against a strong opponent like Iran playing the final qualifiers, and we won the tense, close match that football is supposed to be. Our centre backs did great job in terms of controlling the line precisely, positioning themselves with great concentration and protecting against their long passes with headers in the air and great anticipation. But we still need to improve how we break down their defence to create opportunities in the box. For the second match, we try to share our plan of how we play with our concept, “resonance” in the training.

TACHIKAWA Rei (Jubilo Iwata U-18)
I’m grateful to come here. I believe we 98JAPAN were able to tame Iran’s style of football and dominate the match. To me, I still have something that I haven’t been used to doing, but want to keep actively working for the rest of this limited time.

KANAZAWA Ryota (Yokohama FC Youth)
I tested myself on how much my physical strength got through as well as how I could observe the opponents. I couldn’t observe opponents effectively enough, so I will be working on it as my assignment further more.

WATANABE Kota (Tokyo Verdy Youth)
Because we lost goals in the most of the matches so far and especially allowed many last minute goals, it gave us big confidence to win against Iran without giving away any goal. But we still have adjustments to make such as not being able to finish our attacks accurately, so we will try to improve them in the limited time we have left for the second match on the final day.

Schedule

Future Schedule