2016 NTC Invitational Tournament 3rd Match vs U-19 USA National Team
2016-7-3 (Sun.) - 15:00   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2)
U.S. Soccer National Training Center (Los Angeles/USA)

U-19 USA National Team　2-1 (1-1, 1-0)　U-19 Japan National Team

Scores
6'　DOAN Ritsu (U-19 Japan National Team)
20'　Goal against (U-19 USA National Team)
56'　Goal against (U-19 USA National Team)

Line-ups
GK: YAMAGUCHI Rui
DF: YANAGI Takahiro, TOMIYASU Takehiro, MACHIDA Koki, URATA Itsuki
MF: DOAN Ritsu, KAMIYA Yuta, ICHIMARU Mizuki, ENDO Keita
FW: OGAWA Koki, KISHIMOTO Takeru

Substitutes
GK: KOJIMA Ryosuke
DF: KOJIMA Masaya, OMINAMI Takuma, NODA Hiroki
MF: NAGANUMA Yoichi, WATANABE Kouta, KUBOTA Kazune, TAKAGI Akito
FW: KAKITA Yuki, IWASAKI Yuto

HT　MACHIDA Koki → OMINAMI Takuma
HT　KAMIYA Yuta → WATANABE Kouta
66'　KISHIMOTO Takeru → IWASAKI Yuto
82'　ENDO Keita → KAKITA Yuki
82'　ICHIMARU Mizuki → KUBOTA Kazune

Match Report

The U-19 Japan National Team final match was against the home side the U-19 USA National Team.

The decider, where the winner of the match would clinch the championship, saw Japan intercept the ball in the opposing end in the 6th minute. DOAN Ritsu received the ball on the left flank and penetrated into the box before netting home composedly with his eyes on the goalkeeper to put his side ahead with the opening goal. But in the 20th minute, an USA centre back sent a long ball to space behind Japanese defenders and an unmarked forward controlled the ball to help another player run in for a shot, which went into the net for the USA’s equaliser. While Japan connected passes for shots, the USA created openings with dribbles on flanks. Both sides had goal-scoring opportunities but failed to convert before the first half finished 1-1.

Attacking styles of both sides did not change and they continued battling in the box in the second half. And then, Japan's passing errors gradually stood out. In the 56th minute, the USA robbed the ball in Japan's end to break through the right side. A player rushing into the box met a pass to score. Japan gave up the second goal with the play. Japan went on an offensive surge to get an equaliser, but their shots did not went on goal because of USA's solid defence and their own passing errors that happened in important situations. In the closing minutes, substitute IWASAKI Yuto got through and fired a shot after a collective move in front of goal, but his shot was blocked by an opposing defender. The score remained the same to the end, and Japan finished the tournament in second place with the 2-1 loss to the USA.

Coach and Players' Comments

UCHIYAMA Atsushi, Coach
It was a great experience for us to play against teams that have got a different style of game, which we don't see in Japan, in all the three matches during the USA trip. We didn't get a good result today against the USA, but we were able to score in our rhythm against the opponents who dribbled quick and got height and physical intensity. Because we played not so badly, it's disappointing to lose. We will deliberately analyse what we've got here for the AFC U-19 Championship in October. We've continued taking international trips including Bahrein, Korea Republic, China PR and the USA, and our defence is getting better as we lessened the number of goals against. We will continue to improve the team in the coming activities and make efforts along with all staff and players as one to step on the Bahrein's pitch with confidence in October.

MF #17  ICHIMARU Mizuki (Gamba Osaka)
I personally made a lot of mistakes. We made a game in a way but made quite a bit of errors in quality of final passes and the type of passes used when we tried to change the rhythm. I had lots of situations where I was beaten by an opponent and I wasn't good enough to cope well with opponents who came with individual plays. We can defend collectively but are not successful in 1-on-1 situations. You concede a goal unless you win in that, so you've got to improve the individual defensive ability. We will work on what to improve as a team and work hard during each one of trips for the final qualifying round.

FW #20  IWASAKI Yuto (Kyoto Tachibana High School)
Against the USA having great skills and physical intensity, we scored the opening goal. But after that, we couldn't control the game in our pace and gave up goals. I'm very disappointed here in this tournament because I failed to get results as an individual and as a team. But we've got new findings by playing against teams who play in a different style. I will take advantage of this experience after getting back to my team.

DF #2  YANAGI Takahiro (F.C. Tokyo)
After taking on Panama, Costa Rica and the USA, we ended up not winning the tournament. That's very disappointing. The team are getting better throughout the trip but still have a lot to improve. In the USA match, when we got the negative momentum, it would have been better, if we had been able to get it back quicker. I individually have a lot to improve as well, so I will get back to my team and work on them.

FW #13  KISHIMOTO Takeru (Cerezo Osaka)
It was an important match where we would win the tournament with a win today. We got into the game nicely and scored in a good way, but after that we allowed the opponents to level the score and they kept the possession. We made more mistakes as the match went on. We need to call out to each other and make it better. I made lots of errors in the midfield, so I want to be more selective in choosing the area to play.

Schedule

*Local Time
*This competition is four nations tournament.
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.