International Friendly Match
Thursday, 14 August 2014   Kickoff:18:20   80minutes (40min x 2)
Fujieda Sogo Undokoen Soccer Field (Fujieda City, Shizuoka)

U-19 Japan National Team 0-1 (1st 0-0, 2nd 0-1) U-19 Colombia National Team

Score
72min Goal Against (U-19 Colombia)

Starters
GK:NAKAMURA Kosuke
DF:ISHIDA Ryoma, MIURA Genta, NAKATANI Shinnosuke, UCHIDA Yuto
MF:KANEKO Shota, OYAMA Keisuke, KAWABE Hayao, YURUKI Koya
FW:OCHI Yamato, OMOTEHARA Genta

Substitutes
GK:YOSHIMARU Kenshin
DF:FUJITANI So, UCHIYAMA Yuki
MF:TAKAGI Daisuke, SAKAI Daisuke, SUZUKI Tokuma
FW:MOROOKA Yusuke

51min　YURUKI Koya　→　SAKAI Daisuke
55min　OMOTEHARA Genta　→　MOROOKA Yusuke

Match Report

The first match for Japan was against U-19 Colombia. Colombia beat Japan in the FIFA World Cup in June, and even though the age group is different, Japanese players were looking forward to playing against U-19 Colombia, which has skillful players.

In the early stage of the match, Colombia made an opportunity to shoot after breaking through Japan’s left wing. After Japan being able to move the ball, they got some chances to strike middle shots such as by Kawabe on 12 minutes, and by Kaneko from near the penalty area on 27 minutes. Additionally, on 33 minutes, Omotehara created another scoring chance by sending the ball from the right wing to the centre, but nobody could convert his cross. After that, Colombia took advantage of Japan's loose pass to counter attack but centre backs Nakatani and Miura could block their counter attack. The first half ended with 0-0.

Colombia started to attack with their speedy dribbling from the beginning of the second half, but Japan defended their goal to prevent easy shooting opportunities. Conversely Japan created a scoring chance from their set play but both teams could not score even with Colombia’s speedy dribbling attack or with Japan’s advantage in pass work. The seesaw game moved finally in Colombia’s favor on 72 minutes with the shot by one of the Colombian players getting the ball past a couple of defenders and in to the centre area of the goal by dribbling and Japan allowed Colombia their first goal. Japan kept attacking to try to score a goal but they were blocked by Colombia’s aggressive defense, and the match ended 0-1. U-19 Japan could not finish its first match with a victory.

Comments

SUZUKI Masakazu, Head Coach
It was a good experience for both our players and staff today. Japan could move the ball, but I learned that we have to improve our finishing after breaking though the defense. Colombia scored because of the player’s high skill, and I think we could have made our ball-side defense more compact to avoid the scoring opportunity. Colombia kept attacking with the same level of strength even in the second half; we could not create many chances to attack. We have to switch our mind to prepare for the next match with the Shizuoka Selection Team.

NAKAMURA Kosuke (Kashiwa Reysol)
It was such a shame that we could not win the match today. The next matches will be with Shizuoka Selection Team and with U-19 Korea National Team on Sunday, so I will prepare well from now on to win these matches.

NAKATANI Shinnosuke (Kashiwa Reysol)
Colombia’s physical strength was very good. We should have taken better positions and also played with multiple teammates. I felt that we were as persistent as Colombia even though they have more advantages in terms of physical strengths. We are having another match quite soon, so I am preparing well to win the match.

YURUKI Koya (Montedio Yamagata)
It was regretful for me because I could not show my advantage at all in this match. I couldn’t look up and could not have good communication with my teammates, so I couldn’t build up any attacks. I thought that I have to show myself more in the next two matches to win. I just want to play well for the future.

Schedule

Furture Schedule