23rd International Youth Tournament of Václav Ježek 3rd match　vs U-18 UAE National Team
2016-8-19 (Fri.) - 17:00   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2)
NYRANY (Czech Republic)

U-17 Japan National Team　7-0 (5-0, 2-0)　U-18 UAE National Team

Scores
4'　TAGAWA Kyosuke (U-17 Japan National Team)
7'　SAKAI Masaki (U-17 Japan National Team)
11'　SAKAI Masaki (U-17 Japan National Team)
24'　TAGAWA Kyosuke (U-17 Japan National Team)
40'　KATO Takumi (U-17 Japan National Team)
51'　TSUBAKI Naoki (U-17 Japan National Team)
70'　TAGAWA Kyosuke (U-17 Japan National Team)

Line-ups
GK: SARUTA Haruki
DF: TANAKA Riku, NAKAGAWA So, MIYAMOTO Toshiaki, NISHIYAMA Taiga
MF: TSUBAKI Naoki, IZAWA Haruki, FUJIMOTO Kanya, SAKAI Masaki
FW: KATO Takumi, TAGAWA Kyosuke

Substututes
GK: OKI Yuya
DF: OKANIWA Shuto, SUGIYAMA Danto, AOYAMA Yusuke, YAMADA Kota
MF: HORI Kenta, NAKAJIMA Motohiko
FW: NAKAMURA Shunta

32'　MIYAMOTO Toshiaki　→　SUGIYAMA Danto
HT　FUJIMOTO Kanya　→　YAMADA Kota
56'　KATO Takumi　→　HORI Kenta
64'　HORI Kenta　→　NAKAJIMA Motohiko

Match Report

The U-17 Japan National Team took on the U-18 UAE National Team in their third and final group stage game in the 23rd Václav Ježek International Youth Tournament. Needing a win to advance to the final round, Japan entered the match aggressively, taking the early initiative by connecting passes in good rhythm. 

In the 4th minute, TAGAWA Kyosuke headed a cross from captain TANAKA Riku into the net to take the lead. Three minutes later, TSUBAKI Naoki dribbled past a defender and launched a cross from the left side. SAKAI Masaki reacted to the loose ball, scoring the second for Japan.

In the 11th minute, KATO Takumi broke through the left side, sending a pass to FUJIMOTO Kanya. He subsequently delivered the ball to Sakai, who net it home, extending the lead to 3-0. In the 24th minute, Tagawa scored his second goal, and in the 40th minute, Kato fired a middle-range shot into the back of the net. At the break, Japan led UAE by the score of 5-0.

Japan kept the momentum from the first half and racked up two more goals in the second half, sealing a convincing victory (7-0) over UAE. 

Japan ended in the second place in the group with a 2-1 record. They will compete in the third-place match on Saturday 20 August.

Coach and Players' Comments

YAMAGUCHI Motohiro, Coach
For the final group-stage match, not only did we enter the match with a strong determination to win it, but also aggressive sought to score goals. As intended, we scored five in the first half and I’m satisfied with a convincing victory. However, I’m disappointed that we came up short finishing in the second place in the group stage.

MF #16  TSUBAKI Naoki (Yokohama F・Marinos Youth)
I got in the game with an image to catch them off balance with my dribbling, but I wasn’t able to do as much as I intended. I wasn’t in top form.

I felt that the opponents didn’t come out aggressively against us. We found open space to be exploited. Most of the times, I was able to handle the ball freely. Since we were expecting more from the opponents, it made it somewhat difficult to play. I am not fully convinced with my game today. Perhaps, I could’ve done better. However, I’m happy that we won the game.

MF #5  NISHIYAMA Taiga (Yokohama F・Marinos Youth)
I came in the game trying to play with clarity and precision. However, I wasn’t able to do so in the first play of the match. I felt slightly negative stemming from the poor performance. However, the team played brilliantly and I was relieved. Personally, I was left with issues I need to sort out.

Schedule

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

[23rd International Youth Tournament of Václav Ježek 2016]
GroupA: Czech Republic, Ukraine, Japan, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
GroupB: Slovakia, USA, Hungary, Russia