Jiangyin Zhouzhuang Cup CFA International Youth Football Tournament 2016  2nd Match vs U-17 China PR National Team
2016-5-12 (Thu.) - 19:30   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2)
Jiang yin Sports centre stadium (China/Jiangsu)

U-16 Japan National Team   5-1 (2-0, 3-1)   U-17 China PR National Team

Scores
43'   KOZUKI Soichiro (U-16 Japan National Team)
45+2'   NAKAMURA Keito (U-16 Japan National Team)
51'   HIGASHI Shunki (U-16 Japan National Team)
65'   Goal against (U-17 China PR National Team)
69'   KOZUKI Soichiro (U-16 Japan National Team)
87'   HIRAKAWA Rei (U-16 Japan National Team)

Line-ups
GK: KOKUBO Leobrian
DF: KEMMOTSU Takumu, KUWAHARA Kaito, SUGAWARA Yukinari, YAMASAKI Taichi
MF: FUKUOKA Shimpei, KOZUKI Soichiro, SEHATA Gijo, HIGASHI Shunki
FW: MIYASHIRO Taisei, NAKAMURA Keito

Substitutes
GK: AOKI Kokoro
DF: TAKAHATA Keita, KOBAYASHI Yuki
MF: HIRAKAWA Rei, KATSURA Rikuto, KIDA Hinata, SUZUKI Toichi
FW: YAMADA Hiroto

HT   FUKUOKA Shimpei → KIDA Hinata
HT   YAMASAKI Taichi → KOBAYASHI Yuki
HT   KUWAHARA Kaito → TAKAHATA Keita
63'   NAKAMURA Keito → KATSURA Rikuto
70'   KOZUKI Soichiro → SUZUKI Toichi
81'   HIGASHI Shunki → HIRAKAWA Rei

Match Report

“00JAPAN” won against the U-17 China PR National Team 5-1 in their second game in the Jiangyin Zhouzhuang Cup CFA International Youth Football Tournament 2016 on 10 May.

Playing before a crowd of 18,318, the game kicked off in a great mood. Maybe because they were a little overwhelmed by the big crowd, the teams got off calmly. But Japan began moving the ball passing and gained a rhythm. They repeatedly created scoring opportunities. In the 12th minute, forward NAKAMURA Keito headed a fast cross from defender SUGAWARA Yukinari, but it went off the goalmouth. Yet Japan’s front players kept attacking the goalmouth.

Midfielder FUKUOKA Shimpei and forward MIYASHIRO Taisei fired tough blazing shots in the 17th and 30th minutes, respectively, but both were saved by the Chinese goalkeeper. In the 34th minutes, midfielder KOZUKI Soichiro reacted to a through pass from Miyashiro and became 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper, but again, the goalkeeper saved it. The opponents showed fatigue as the game wore on and Japan came on in attacking mode even more.

In the 43rd, Japan relayed passed in the right side, and Kozuki attacked inside the box to earn a penalty kick. Kozuki made it himself to give Japan a lead. Two minutes into the additional time of the first half, Japan intercepted a pass up front and quickly fed it to Nakamura. He netted a marvelous long shot as Japan led 2-0 into halftime.

Earlier in the second half, Japan came in with composure, yet attacked on the Chinese squad. in the 51st, Kozuki robbed the ball from a Chinese defender and launched a cross. Midfielder HIGASHI Shunki connected it for a goal to take the third score for Japan. But in the 65th, Japan gave a corner kick and allowed a header goal to China. Yet Japan switched their mindset quickly and added another goal.

In the 69th minute, midfielder KIDA Hinata fed a great pass as if he drew a line between Chinese defenders, then Kozuki reacted to it and scored Japan’s fourth goal. In the 87th, furthermore, midfielder HIRAKAWA Rei headed a cross from Miyashiro to give Japan their fifth goal. The game ended as it was and Japan post their second straight win.

Japan will take on an Asian rival U-17 Iran National Team for their third and final game next. With a draw or better, Japan will clinch their first championship.

* "00 JAPAN" is the nickname of the U-16 Japan National Team that consists of members who were born after 2000.

Players' Comments

MF #14  KOZUKI Soichiro (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18)
I enjoyed that we played before a big crowd today. I want to thank that we were able to play in such a great atmosphere. In our first game against Uzbekistan, I couldn’t even take a shot and had to reflect as I lacked the awareness for scoring. So for this game, I wanted to get involved in scoring plays.

Earlier in the game, I tried to do a little too much, but because of my active attitude, I gained a penalty kick and scored a goal reacting to a through pass. Also, I was able to intercept and connect it for a goal, which is one of the things we want to do, so it was great. Yet I felt we still needed to improve on the quality of my passing and decision making, so I would like to work on those in my daily training.

MF #16  HIGASHI Shunki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
Playing in a completely away atmosphere, we came in the game being united with the staff and players. We were a little overwhelmed by the mood earlier and weren’t able to play our game. But after we scored our first goal, we played collectively both on offence and defence, and took the momentum until the end of the game.

Individually, I want to get involved in plays with the ball, so I tried to get a space behind defenders or cut in the middle to attack from our collective passing plays. It paid off and we score goals, so it was good. As the team, we played our defence collectively, and had the same awareness for attacking their goal as quickly as we could. In order to have another overwhelming game in our next game against the U-17 Iran National Team, we would like to work hard with the entire team in our tomorrow’s practice.

FW #13  NAKAMURA Keito (Mitsubishi Yowa SC Youth)
Our team weren’t settled and our spacing was bad earlier in the game, so we couldn’t create a good flow for ourselves. But once we kept attacking and gained the offensive momentum, we got settled eventually. The quality of our shooting, which was our issue, has improved in our daily training.

I would like to pile up training so I can make my heading shots from crosses and shots with my left leg one of my strengths. We are definitely going to try to beat Iran and earn the championship.

Schedule

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