Training Match vs U.S. Beach Soccer National Team
2017-1-16(Mon.) Kick-off 10:00 (Local Time) Playing Time 15 min ×3
Fort Lauderdale（USA／Florida）

U.S. Beach Soccer National Team 3-7（1st 2-1, 2nd 1-2, 3rd 0-4）Japan Beach Soccer National Team

Scores
1'　IINO Tomoyuki（Japan Beach Soccer National Team）
6'　goal against（U.S. Beach Soccer National Team）
10'　goal against（U.S. Beach Soccer National Team）
16'　IINO Tomoyuki（Japan Beach Soccer National Team）
20'　MOREIRA Ozu（Japan Beach Soccer National Team）
24'　goal against（U.S. Beach Soccer National Team）
31'　AKAGUMA Takuya（Japan Beach Soccer National Team）
32'　Own Goal（Japan Beach Soccer National Team）
36'　KOMAKI Masayuki（Japan Beach Soccer National Team）
45'　HARAGUCHI Shotaro（Japan Beach Soccer National Team）

Starting Line-ups
GK：TERUKINA Shingo
FP：MOREIRA Ozu, IINO Tomoyuki, OBA Takaaki, GOTO Takasuke

Substitutions
GK：KAWAI Yusuke
FP：ISO Hiroaki, KOMAKI Masayuki, HARAGUCHI Shotaro, NAKAHARA Yuki, AKAGUMA Takuya

Match Report

The Japan Beach Soccer National Team, who are currently on a tour to the United States, had their third training match against the U.S. Beach Soccer National Team on Sunday 16 January.

With strong winds constantly coming from the coast, Japan kicked-off the match with the ball.

The match moved from the beginning. In the 1st minute, Japan’s IINO Tomoyuki stole the ball thrown by the US keeper and played a one-two with GOTO Takasuke to create a one-on-one scoring opportunity with the goalkeeper, where he calmly netted the opening goal for the Japanese side. However, moments later, the US squad stole the ball in the Japan’s half and tied the score by converting this chance. Furthermore, in the 10th minute, the US side turned around the match 2-1 by capitalising on the mistake made by the Japanese squad.

Being behind by a single goal, Japan struck right back in the 16th minute of the second period. Iino redirected the shot made by goalkeeper TERUKINA Shingo with a header and leveled the match 2-2. Then, in the 20th minute, MOREIRA Ozu reacted to the chipped ball from Iino and scored the go-ahead goal on the volley. However, they conceded a goal in the 24th minute and ended the second period all squared at 3-3.

Japan scored right after the kick-off again. In the 31st minute of the third period, making a quick transition defensively, they pressured and stole the ball from the opponents in front of their goal, and AKAGUMA Takuya scored the tiebreaker to reclaim the lead 4-3. Then, a minute later in the 32nd minute, the Japanese side extended their advantage 5-3 from an own goal by the USA. Scoring rush continued as KOMAKI Masayuki brilliantly struck an over-head shot in the 36th minute and further pushed away the US side 6-3. 

Defensively, the Japanese squad made the necessary adjustments from the previous matches, all of which were addressed during the meeting held the day before. They defended composedly and did not allow the opponents to strike back. Then, right before the final whistle, HARAGUCHI Shotaro scored the seventh from a well-struck over-head shot in the 45th minute. The match ended with Japan posting a convincing victory 7-3.

The Japanese squad wrapped up their trip in the United States with three straight wins over the US National Team.

Japan will depart in the early morning of 17 January from Miami for their next destination Costa Rica.

Players' Comments

FP MOREIRA Ozu（Fusion）
These were the first series of matches this year and it was an excellent beginning that we posted three consecutive wins against the US squad. We will move to Costa Rica where we will continue our training and have more practice matches. We expect we will correct our issues, attain positive results, and build up the momentum for the upcoming tournament,

For the World Cup Qualifiers in March, we need to further improve our combination plays from last year while displaying our brand of football. We hope we will win all the coming matches this year.

FP IINO Tomoyuki (Dorsole Kitakyushu)
We ended the last day of the USA trip by winning the third match and posting three consecutive wins. There were stretches where we couldn’t perform well, but we got united as a team to earn a comeback win. Today I scored the first-ever goal for the national team, but I believe this is only the beginning for me. I need to keep my focus and improve both the physical and mental aspects of my game.

Schedule

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