3rd Match vs Afghanistan National U-15 Team

SPORTS FOR TOMORROW Japan-Central Asia Exchange Programme
3rd March of Group League vs Afghanistan National U-15 Team
Friday 27 March, 2015 Kick-off: 9:30 a.m. Match Duration: 60 minutes (30 min halves)
J-GREEN SAKAI, Sakai, Osaka

Japan National U-15 Team 0-0 (1st 0-0, 2nd 0-0) Afghanistan National U-15 Team

Starters
GK：TAKADA Yuma
DF：SAKUTA Ryutaro、 KAWAI Tetta、OMOMO Leon、KEMMOTSU Takumu
MF：SUGAWARA Yukinari、ENDO Masashi、AWANO Kento、MASUTANI Takara
FW：MIKUNI Kennedy Ebusu、TANAHASHI Akito

Substitutes
GK：TANI Kosei
DF：TOKUNAGA Haruto
MF：HIRAKAWA Rei、HOMMA Shion
FW：YAMAYA Yushi

Non-registered member
DF： KUDO Aoi
MF： KATSURA Rikuto

Substitutes
HT　 MASUTANI Takara → HIRAKAWA Rei
43min　MIKUNI Kennedy Ebusu → YAMAYA Yushi
46min　ENDO Masashi → HOMMA Shion

Match Report

Coming back from the loss in the previous match, Japan started connecting accurate passes early. But their crosses and through balls lacked accuracy and their offence failed to reach a finish. In the half time head coach Moriyama enthusiastically said to his players “Our pace isn’t bad, but we have to move the ball faster and move around collectively. Play out each play that you think best! ”
In the second half, the team started making effective passes as they wanted and had some goal-scoring opportunities. But none was very decisive. Afghanistan also were able to create counter-attack chances against Japan, who started being restless and making passing mistakes late in the match, but they also failed to score a goal. In the additional time, Japan had Yamaya receive a through ball and go one-on-one against the opposing goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper denied the attack. With Japan not being able to break down Afghanistan’s stellar defence, the match finished as a scoreless draw.
The afternoon has the last match of the group league against Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-15.

4th Match v Kyoto Sanga F.C.U-15

SPORTS FOR TOMORROW Japan-Central Asia Exchange Programme
4th March of Group League vs Kyoto Sanga F.C.U-15
Friday 27 March, 2015  Kick-off: 2:00 p.m.  Match Duration: 60 minutes (30 min halves)
J-GREEN SAKAI, Sakai, Osaka

Japan National U-15 Team 2-0 (1st 1-0, 2nd 1-0) Kyoto Sanga F.C.U-15

Scores
11min　SUGAWARA Yukinari（Japan）
45min　Own Goal（Japan）

Starters
GK：TANI Kosei
DF：SAKUTA Ryutaro、KAWAI Tetta、KEMMOTSU Takumu、TOKUNAGA Haruto
MF：HIRAKAWA Rei、SUGAWARA Yukinari、HOMMA Shion、MASUTANI Takara
FW：YAMAYA Yushi、TANAHASHI Akito

Substitutes
GK：TAKADA Yuma
DF：OMOMO Leon
MF：ENDO Masashi、AWANO Kento
FW：MIKUNI Kennedy Ebusu

Non-registered member
DF： KUDO Aoi
MF： KATSURA Rikuto

Substitutes
45min　TANAHASHI Akito　→　AWANO Kento
50min　YAMAYA Yushi　→　MIKUNI Kennedy Ebusu
56min　MASUTANI Takara　→　ENDO Masashi
58min　KAWAI Tetta　→　OMOMO Leon

Match Reports

Japan started the match with aggressive defence, as they aimed for the top place in the group league. In the 11th minute, after the opponents’ mistake, Sugawara scored the opener. After that, with good ball movement and pressing defence, Japan continued to keep the opponents from creating chances.
“Our pressing against their ball has been good. We keep trying to intercept their ball. And we need quicker transitions from our defence to offence after getting the ball. Have a good vision and always try to expect next plays and keep good space around.” said head coach Moriyama during the half time. Japan kept their dominance in the second half and scored the second goal when Sugawara ran up the right flank and his cross resulted in an own goal by an opposing defender. Japan stayed focused until the match finished 2-0. As Iran edged Japan in the closing group-stage standings, Japan finished second and were set to play against Kyrgyz National U-15 Team in the third-place match two days later.

Comments

TANI Kosei (Gamba Osaka Junior Youth)
Everyone was pumped up because it was the last match in the group league. We defended hard in both matches and held them scoreless. So that’s a good result. But I regret that we were not able to continue communicating on the pitch throughout matches. I received very specific advice from our goalkeeper coach when we were on the bench watching the match. He told me the most effective positioning depending on situations and how to give coaching to my defenders in corner-kick situations and free-kick situations. They were very informative. We have one more match to play. We want to enjoy playing altogether and definitely finish it with one more win.

SAKUTA Ryutaro (Vissel Kobe U-15)
The two matches gave us a lesson to learn. It’s the quality of our cross balls and the quality of passes to our forwards. I want to keep those things in mind in our daily practices. But my hard running was good and being able to run added up my confidence. I want to improve that and make it my strong point that is better than anybody else. Yesterday, our passing speed was not good and the coach instructed us on that, but today we were able to pass faster and make fewer mistakes. In the last day match, I want to play aggressively with paying attention to everything we have learned and the team have talked about so far.

YAMAYA Yushi (Yokohama F Marinos Junior Youth Oppama)
It was good that we were able to play hard and collectively both in offence and defence in both matches. But in the additional period against Afghanistan, we had many chances to score, but we couldn’t finish it. So I think that was a lesson to be learned. In this trip, I am trying to learn how to move without the ball and how to lose a defender in a moment, so I want to leave a good result in the last match two days later by scoring a goal.

Schedule

*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

Entry teams of the programme

Future Schedule