U-16 Japan National Team  vs  U-18 Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC
2016-6-7 (Tue.) - 17:15   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2)
Thong Nhat Stadium (Ho Chi Minh/Vietnam)

U-16 Japan National Team   4-1 (2-0, 2-1)   U-18 Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC

Scores
19'   SEHATA Gijo (U-16 Japan National Team)
31'   KUBO Takefusa (U-16 Japan National Team)
55'   KIKUCHI Kenta (U-16 Japan National Team)
64'   Goal against (U-18 Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC)
87'   HIGASHI Shunki (U-16 Japan National Team)

Line-ups
GK: AOKI Kokoro
DF: SUGAWARA Yukinari, KIKUCHI Kenta, NISHIO Ryuya, KATSURA Rikuto
MF: KOZUKI Soichiro, SEHATA Gijo, KIDA Hinata, HIRAKAWA Rei
FW: KUBO Takefusa, NAKAMURA Keito

Substitutes
GK: TANI Kosei, KOKUBO Leobrian
DF: KUWAHARA Kaito, KANO Kanato, HIGASHI Shunki
MF: MATSUMOTO Nagi, FUKUOKA Shimpei, SUZUKI Toichi
FW: MIYASHIRO Taisei, KURIHARA Ibrahim Junior

HT   KOZUKI Soichiro → HIGASHI Shunki
59'   KUBO Takefusa → FUKUOKA Shimpei
67'   KIKUCHI Kenta → SUZUKI Toichi
82'   HIRAKAWA Rei → KUWAHARA Kaito
85'   NAKAMURA Keito → MATSUMOTO Nagi

Match Report

“00Japan” defeated U-18 Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC 4-1 on their India-Vietnam trip on 7 June.

Like Becamex Binh Duong FC that Japan faced on the previous day, Hoang Anh Gia Lai are one of the best teams in Vietnam. The game was kicked off 15 minutes later than the original scheduled time due to a rainstorm before it. The Japan had to play on the grass, which could almost be said weeds and plus their feet were buried in the ground with the muddy pitch condition, yet it was actually a good simulation for Japan, who are competing in the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship in India. It was the fourth game for “00Japan” on this trip all their members went in the game with the mind-set as if they would play in the semifinals in the AFC U-16 championship, which will also serve as the qualifier for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Early on, Japan were aggressive at ball-hawking with their front and tried to create scoring chances. In the 4th minute, midfielder KOZUKI Soichiro, who took the ball as the opposing goalkeeper failed to properly kick, attempted a shot but it hit the bar. Japan retained the momentum after that and were able to get on the board. In the 19th, defender SUGAWARA Yukinari returned a free kick from forward KUBO Takefusa into the middle, and then midfielder SEHATA Gijo coolly put it into the net.

In the 31st, Kubo reacted to a through pass from midfielder HIRAKAWA Rei and netted it after he became 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper. Before halftime, forward NAKAMURA Keito and Hirakawa nearly scored for Japan and the game entered halftime with Japan up 2-0.

In the second half, the opponents started their rally. Hoang Anh Gia Lai relayed passed capitalizing on their high techniques and Japan could not get the ball, allowing them to have chances. Yet Japan’s defenders around Sugawara kept their focus and avoided any goals allowed. Then in the 55th minute, Sugawara fed a pass behind the defenders of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, who had their men forward, and Nakamura relayed it with a heel pass. Defender KIKUCHI Kenta, who took off with a good timing, put it in for Japan’s third goal.

But after that, Japan started showing fatigue and allowed Hoang Anh Gia Lai to take the space behind their defenders as the opponents relayed their passes quickly. In the 64th, Hoang Anh Gia Lai attacked from the right side on a counter attack and put a cross into the net to score back. Yet Japan had their scoring chances and retrieved their own rhythm.

In the 66th, Nakamura consecutively had scoring chances, but could not put one in. Japan, who kept their concentration toward the end of the game, sealed the deal in the 87th, when defender HIGASHI Shunki received a pass, rotating his body to dodge past a defender, and then netted a goal. Japan went on to win 4-1.

It was a long-term trip to India and Vietnam, but Japan wrapped it up with a record of three wins and a draw. The players struggled to adjust their physical conditions in Goa, India, which is the site for the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship, yet learned how to adopt themselves to the circumstances. They also put up a serious contest against an older competitive team in Vietnam in their first game on the trip, showing their growths. They are going to try to take advantage of the experience for the main event in September.

Their next activity will be the U-16 International Dream Cup 2016 JAPAN Presented by JFA, which kicks off from 22 June in Tottori. It will be a great opportunity for them to compete with the world’s top teams. 

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

Coach and Players' Comments

MORIYAMA Yoshiro、Coach
This trip to India and Vietnam was planned as a simulation for the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship, which will be held in Goa, India, this upcoming September. So we stayed at the hotel we are actually going to stay, observed the game and practice venues and used them, with the objectives to get used to the circumstances. We had to transit flights twice, trained in a hot, heated climate, and had to spend the time in the inconvenient environments, and some of our players lost their conditions. But they still tried to get closer to their best in the circumstances and played out all the four games at their full effort.

We wound up playing two games in India and two in Vietnam. And we had three wins and a draw, scoring 12 goals and giving up two goals. Most of the games, we had to play older teams, so sometimes we got beaten physically and got behind with their speed, and we could not achieve our goal to not give up any goals not allowing our opponents to attack on us at all. Especially the Vietnamese players were speedy and technical, and we allowed them to create scoring opportunities so many times.

Meanwhile, having continued from our China trip in May, in which we scored four goals and captured a championship with three consecutive wins, we racked up 12 goals in four games and were able to show our attacking power this time as well. Every game, we had shot chances for more than 20 times and created so many decisive scenes, but we could have scored even more if we had more accuracy and power in the box. That will continue to be our issue. We demanded our players to have passing speed, play accuracy on the move, taking better positions observing their opponents both offensively and defensively and making better judgements throughout the trip. I’m hoping that our players keep work hard on training at higher level when they return to their clubs.

GK #18  TANI Kosei (Gamba Osaka Youth)
We made some decisive scoring chances, but we need to accuracy to net them. Defensively, we allowed them to take behind out backs, so we would like to be through on challenging and covering as well as our risk management as a team. For the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship, every opponent will be tough and one small mistake could be a fatal blow. So I want to take the leadership to lead our defenders by coaching them. During this trip, I got to know that each one of our plays wasn’t good enough, so we would like to play with the mind-set to want to develop ourselves, like in accurate passing and catching.

MF #4  HIRAKAWA Rei (F.C. Tokyo U-18)
Our opponents were very technical and were good at relaying passes. But we could get the ball up front from our collective defence and created so many scoring chances. Yet we gave up a goal and there was some time that they outplayed us, so we would like to improve on those by the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship in India. As we were in such different circumstances from Japan in India and Vietnam, we have very good simulations. Individually, I was short of adopting myself to tougher environments, so I would like to have better stamina to be able to endure against the heat.

Schedule

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