The 11th International Youth Tournament (U-17) in Minsk 2015
Group League 1st Match
Sun. 18 January 2015   Kick Off 14:10    Playing Time 80min（40miutes halves）
Football Covered Arena Minsk(Belarus/Minsk)

Japan National Team  1-0(1st 1-0、2nd 0-0)   Finland National Team

Scores
40min   TANAKA Riku (Japan National Team )

Starters
GK：CHIDA Keito
DF： ABE Masashi、TOMIYASU Takehiro、 ITO Hiroki、TANAKA Riku
MF： WATANABE Kouta、MORIOKA Riku、NAGASAWA Ryosuke、SAITO Mitsuki
FW：SUGA Daiki、IWASAKI Yuto

Substitutes
GK： WAKINO Atsushi
DF： TSUNEMOTO Keigo、TANAKA Kosuke
MF：  HATTORI Takehiro、KAJIYAMA Kanta、SAKIMURA Yusuke
FW： TAKAHASHI Toshiki

HT   SUGA Daiki → TAKAHASHI Toshiki
45min  MORIOKA Riku → KAJIYAMA Kanta
60min  NAGASAWA Ryosuke → TANAKA Kosuke
70min SAITO Mitsuki → HATTORI Takehiro

Match Report

Although both teams seemed to play slightly awkwardly at the beginning of the match, the U-17 Japan National Team gradually seized the initiative with their aggressive defence at the front and the swift movement of the defensive line, which enabled them to hold the compact field. In attack, Nagasawa Ryosuke, created many goal-scoring opportunities through his skilful dribbling. Both Iwasaki Yuto and Suga Daiki took shots, but they could not find the back of the net due to some solid saves by the opponent’s goalkeeper.

The game changed after 40 minutes. Nagasawa, who received the ball in the centre after short passes in midfield, passed it to Tanaka Riku, who ran up through the left side. Then Tanaka calmly struck the opener with his left foot. The game went into the second half at 1-0.

In the second half, Japan held the initiative with their better stamina, creating more goal-scoring opportunities. Ito Hiroki and Tomiyasu Takehiro, who lead the team in defence, stayed focused on the opponent’s fierce attacks. The score stayed 1-0 until the last whistle.
Japan, who won their first match, will play against the Lithuania national team on 20 January.

Comments

MORIYAMA Yoshiro, Head Coach
The way we started today’s game was good. From the beginning of the game, we pressed the opponent in order to steal the ball, and could control the game most of the time. Having said that, we lacked impact near the penalty area and couldn’t find the back of the net despite numerous goal-scoring opportunities, which was very regrettable. In the last second of the first half, we scored and moved onto the second half in a good way. However, the opponent pressed back in the second half, and the game became a seesaw struggle. We stayed highly focused and I must point out that the players stayed calm against the opponent’s fierce attacks.
Our problem was that we lacked quality in the last passes and shots even though we moved forward into the area in front of the goal. In tomorrow’s training session, we’d like to check the timing between passer and receiver, and to improve the quality of the pass and control, so that we can get ready for our second match.

SAITO Mitsuki (Shona Bellmare Youth)
I focused on defending from the front line, as instructed by the head coach. I think the fact that all of us could cooperate in defence to steal the ball lead us to the victory. We kept the possession longer and took many shots, which I’d like to continue. Having said that, the quality of the last passes in the penalty area and the shots were low and we only scored one goal. This remains our issue to be fixed. In the next match, I’d like to continue the level of the defence, and improve the quality of the attack to score three or four goals to win.

ABE Masashi (Seiryo Senior High School)
We got a good start as a team by winning our first match. As we lacked ideas and strength in front of the opponent’s goal and could score only one goal, I’d like to improve that in the next game. In today’s match, we tried to press the opponent with some high-intensity exercise. I wish I could be more aggressive in attack. In terms of the defence, it was good to defend with a feeling of unity and I’d like to keep a clean sheet again. During the build-up, occasionally it didn’t go smoothly, taking time to get through the opponent’s centre. So I’d like to attack in a way that the opponent won’t like, including using long passes.

Schedule

※The schedule may be subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.