U-18 Japan National Team Panda Cup 2015 League match 1st vs. U-18 Kyrgyz Republic National Team
2015-6-24 (Wed.)  - 19:30  Playing  Time 90min (45min. x 2)
Shuangliu Sports Centre Stadium (Chengdu, China)

U-18 Japan National Team  6-0 (1st 2-0、2nd 4-0)  U-18 Kyrgyz Republic National Team

Score
8'   OGAWA Koki (Japan)
18'   URATA Itsuki (Japan)
54'   OGAWA Koki (Japan)
60'   ICHIMI Kazunari (Japan)
89'   ICHIMI Kazunari (Japan)
90+3'   IWASAKI Yuto (Japan)

Line-ups
GK: KOJIMA Ryosuke
DF: FUJITANI So, NODA Hiroki, MACHIDA Koki, URATA Itsuki
MF: KUNIMOTO Takahiro, SASAKI Takumi, NAGANUMA Yoichi, KUBOTA Kazune
FW: KISHIMOTO Takeru, OGAWA Koki

Substitutes
GK: HIROSUE Riku
DF: YANAGI Takahiro, TOMIYASU Takehiro, FUNAKI Kakeru
MF: IWASAKI Yuto, SUZUKI Tokuma, MORISHIMA Tsukasa, SUGIMORI Koki 
FW: ICHIMI Kazunari

8'   KUNIMOTO Takahiro → IWASAKI Yuto
HT   KISHIMOTO Takeru → SUGIMORI Koki 
59'   FUJITANI So → YANAGI Takahiro
59'   URATA Itsuki → FUNAKI Kakeru
60'   OGAWA Koki → ICHIMI Kazunari
66'   KUBOTA Kazune → MORISHIMA Tsukasa
66'   SASAKI Takumi → SUZUKI Tokuma
76'   NODA Hiroki → TOMIYASU Takehiro

Match Report

U-18 Japan faced Kyrgyz Republic in their opening match of the Panda Cup.

Japan went on an attacking surge from the beginning and created shooting opportunities in the Kyrgyz Republic's end. In the 8th minute, after forward KISHIMOTO Takeru broke through the right flank and fed a cross ball, forward OGAWA Koki composedly put it into the net for an opener. In the 18th minute, defender URATA Itsuki netted a direct free kick to put his side further ahead before entering the second half at 2-0.

Japan did not slow down in the second half. When midfielder SUGIMORI Koki fired defender FUJITANI Koki's right cross ball, it was once denied by an opposing defender.  But Ogawa responded to the deflection and grabbed his team's third goal in the 54th minute.

In the 60th and 89th minutes, with combinations between midfielder NAGANUMA Yoichi and Sugimori, Japan came close to the opposing goal and saw forward ICHIMI Kazunari netting two goals in a row to make it 5-0. In the added time of the second half, midfielder IWASAKI Yuto busted the right flank and found the back of the net at the end. Japan won the opener 6-0.

Japan's second match is scheduled on Friday 26 June against host country U-18 China.

Players' Comments 

OGAWA Koki (Toko Gakuen High School)
Today we got six goals after all, but there are still some homework remaining as we had more and more opportunities where we could've scored. We still have two more matches left. We will stick to putting up a good outcome and playing our game. We will also try to stick to details while working hard to grab the title. Before going out for the next match, Off the pitch, I will try to always act with the match in mind.

NAGANUMA Yoichi (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
This tournament is a preparation for October's qualifiers and has three matches with one day intervals. As today's match was the first one, it was important for us. It was good that we achieved our theme of this camp – All players to unite for a victory for the team either on a starting lineup or the bench. We will try to win the remaining two matches and hopefully win the championship.

URATA Itsuki (JEF United Chiba)
We went out for the opener with a good tension today. The match ended up with 6-0, but we found we still have more to improve. To put up a good result on the world stage, I feel I need to be aware of playing on the world-class standard as a team and as an individual. This tournament is set to be the same system as the qualifiers in October – three matches with one day intervals. So I will keep that in mind to battle out in the remaining two matches.

FUJITANI So (Vissel Kobe U-18)
First, I'm happy to get a win in today's Kyrgyz Republic match. The opening match is going to be important at the finals as well, so it turned out to be a good simulation. Even so, we had lots of situations where we allowed critical moments because of our own mistakes. We will aim to play a game with fewer mistakes. We have a match day after tomorrow as well, so we will make a good preparation and work together to grab a win.

Schedule

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

Panda Cup 2015
Four coutries of China, Kyrgyz Republic, Slovakia and Japan will play a round-robin.

Future Schedule