The 11th International Youth Tournament (U-17) in Minsk 2015
2nd Place Play-Off League 2nd Match
Sun. 25 January 2015 Kickoff 15:05 Playing Time 80min(40min halves)
Football Covered Arena Minsk(Minsk/Belarus)

U-17 Japan National Team   2-0(1st 1-0, 2nd 1-0)   U-17 Belarus National Team

Scorers
16min   NAGASAWA Ryosuke(Japan)
62min　NAGASAWA Ryosuke(Japan)

Starters
GK：WAKINO Atsushi 
DF：ABE Masashi TOMIYASU Takehiro, SAKIMURA Yusuke, TANAKA Riku
MF：SAITO Mitsuki, ITO Hiroki, WATANABE Kouta, KAJIYAMA Kanta, NAGASAWA Ryosuke
FW：IWASAKI Yuto

Substitutes
GK：CHIDA Keito
DF：TSUNEMOTO Keigo、TANAKA Kosuke
MF：HATTORI Takehiro 、SUGA Daiki
FW：TAKAHASHI Toshiki

Substitution
HT　WAKINO Atsushi　→　CHIDA Keito
HT　SAITO Mitsuki　→　TANAKA Kosuke
55min　KAJIYAMA Kanta　→　TAKAHASHI Toshiki
71min　ABE Masashi　→　TSUNEMOTO Keigo
71min　IWASAKI Yuto 　→　SUGA Daiki
71min　NAGASAWA Ryosuke　→　HATTORI Takehiro

Match Reports

The U-17 Japan National Team were playing for the first place in the runners-up league, fourth place overall in the tournament, against Georgia. Before the match the captain Tomiyasu encouraged the players, standing in a circle: ‘let’s play with our soul!’ to finish their Belarus tour. The Georgian players were all tall, but very skilful with their feet. They used dribbling and long passing slickly in order to attack flexibly from the beginning of the match. Ito, the defensive midfielder, coordinated well with Kajiyama and Watanabe, who were in a forward defensive midfield position, and gradually increased Japan’s possession.

After 15 minutes, Abe, who was at right back, stole the ball at midfield by a sliding tackle, passed it Kajiyama. Kajiyama immediately sent it to the centre. Then Nagasawa reacted to a loose ball, which came off a clash between Iwaki and the opponent’s defender, and struck the opener into the left-hand corner. The match became a seesaw struggle with Georgia’s counter-attacks. However, the score remained and the game went into the second half at 1-0.

From the beginning of the second half, Japan were pressed from the front by Georgia. In the 45th minute, Georgia’s header hit the goalpost. The Japanese defenders did not let the opponent score a goal. Japan used short passes to make the opponent move around and the opponent gradually had to stop their attack. After 61 minutes, Tanaka Kosuke, who came off the bench, dribbled through the left side and passed a cross to the centre. Nagasawa reacted to the ball superbly and scored an additional goal. Japan substituted players one after another, staying ambitious for goals. The score stayed the same until the last whistle and Japan won the match 2-0. 

Japan won fourth place in the tournament and Nagasawa Ryosuke (Vissel Kobe U-18) was given the best forward award. 

Comments

MORIYAMA Yoshiro, Head Coach
Georgia has five or six players who are over 185cm tall. We pressed from the front against them, not letting them kick the ball, in order to reduce their height advantage. In terms of the defence, the players stayed concentrated throughout the tournament, continuously pressing the opponent. We conceded only one goal, directly from a corner kick. So I’d say our defence was excellent, which was Japan’s advantage. In terms of the attack, in all five matches, although we moved the ball rhythmically up to the build-up, we found our problems there – the accuracy of the last pass and the control, the timing of the movement, the pressure of the attack, the tactics and ideas, the strength and speed of shots. In today’s game we scored two goals, which was a good way to finish our tour. We played against aggressive opponents in every game without fear and showed our improvement on this tour.

TOMIYASU Takehiro, Avispa Fukuoka U-18
I played with all my soul today, so that I could show everything I learned during this tour. In attack, I tried to increase the quality and accuracy of shots and to score more than two goals. In terms of the defence, I bear in mind that we have only conceded one goal so far and that we’d kept a clean sheet in today’s match. When I look back at the matches in this tournament, I realise that we couldn’t finish with shots despite our numerous goal-scoring opportunities. I think we’re still lack attacking ideas. The defence worked well in good balance, contributing the attack as well, which I’d like to continue.

NAGASAWA Ryosuke, Vissel Kobe U-18
We started the match very well, pressing from the front. Although it was difficult to deal with the opponent’s long clearances, I was pleasesd that we scored from the short counter-attack. Personally, I’m over the moon that I finally scored a goal, as I’ve been struggling so far. I’d like to stay ambitious for goals. The more we play together, the more united the team becomes. I think we managed to finish in a good way, playing our style. As the national team’s activity is over for now, we’ll go back to our respective club teams. I’d like to work on getting through when I’m pressed by the defenders or getting ready before reacting the ball.

Ranking

1　  Russia
2　  Latvia
3　  Moldova
4　  Japan
5　  Gruziya
6　  Belarus
7　  Czech Republic
8　  Ukraine
9　  Finland
10　Lithuania
11　Iran
12　China

Awards

Best Forward : NAGASAWA Ryosuke (Vissel Kobe U-18)

Schedule

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

Participating nations of 11th International Youth Tournament (U-17) in Minsk 2015

Group Ａ：Belarus、Czech Republic、China、Moldova
Group Ｂ：Russia、Finland、Japan、Lithuania
Group Ｃ：Ukraine、Georgia、Iran、Latvia