AFC U-16 Championship 2018 Qualifiers Second Match vs U-15 Malaysia National Team
24 September 2017 (Fri.) Kick-off 16:00 (Local Time) Playing Time 90 min. (45min.×2)
Wibawa Mukti Stadium（Bekasi, Indonesia)

U-15 Japan National Team 4-0（2-0, 2-0）U-15 Malaysia National Team

Scores
23'　YOSHIDA Yuji（U-15 Japan National Team）
27'　UEDA Keita（U-15 Japan National Team）
49'　NAKANO Keita（U-15 Japan National Team）
73'　AOKI Yusuke（U-15 Japan National Team）

Starting Line-ups
GK：YAMADA Taiki
DF：NAKANO Shinya, SUZUKI Kaito, HANDA Riku, UEDA Keita
MF：YOKOKAWA Asahi, KONDO Kuraba, NARUOKA Hikaru, SUMI Kohshiro
FW：NAKANO Keita, YOSHIDA Yuji

Reserves
GK：SASAKI Masato, JONES Rei
DF：TAJIMA Mitsuki, TANAKA Yoshihiro, SUGAHARA Kazuma, SAKO Maaya
MF：YAMAUCHI Kakeru, ARAKI Ryotaro, NISHIKAWA Jun, AOSHIMA Kenta
FW：AOKI Yusuke, KOSHIO Genki

Substitutions
52'　KONDO Kuraba → AOSHIMA Kenta
52'　YOSHIDA Yuji → AOKI Yusuke
83'　YAMADA Taiki→ JONES Rei

Match Report

U-15 Japan National Team faced U-15 Malaysia in the third match of the AFC U-16 Championship 2018 Qualifiers. Both sides have won the last two games and were looking to top the group and get through the first round of the qualifiers of the AFC U-16 Championship 2018. Japan kicked off the key match-up between the two undefeated teams at 16:00 local time.

Similar to the opponents that Japan faced in the qualifiers so far, Malaysia formed defensive blocks in midfield and focused their efforts in defending against the potent attacking side. On the other hand, Japan tried to create chances by a quick exchange of passes with minimal number of touches as well as sending early crosses. However, the game stayed in the balance as the Japanese internationals struggled to fashion decisive scoring opportunities and break through the Malaysian defence.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 23rd minute, when YOSHIDA Yuji dashed into the box and reacted to NAKANO Shinya’s cross from the right side with a brilliant header to open the scoring for U-15 Japan. Finding their attacking flair after this goal, the Japanese squad attacked more fiercely and doubled their lead on 27 minutes. UEDA Keita directly cannoned a clearance from the opposing goalkeeper off a right corner into the Malaysian net. 

One of the scary moments for Japan came just before halftime, when their opponent intercepted a pass and surged up with the pitch to face one-on-one with the Japanese goalkeeper, YAMADA Taiki. Fortunately for the Japanese side, his shot was send wide. The first half ended with Japan taking a 2-0 lead.

In the second half, Malaysia brought on two new players on to the pitch to strengthen their attacks. However, the Japanese squad were not rattled by this change and continued to display their style of football by keeping possession, and took control of the match. In the 49th minute, Japan scored their third goal after NAKANO Keita fired home a free kick just outside of the penalty area.

On 52 minutes Japan subbed in two attacking players, AOKI Yusuke and AOSHIMA Kenta, to spark their attack. Then in the 73rd minute, U-15 Japan orchestrated a wonderful scoring chance for Aoki from a corner, and the Japanese striker made no mistake to net home the fourth for his side.

Despite the fatigue from playing consecutive matches in a short period of time, the young Japanese internationals showed no sign of tiredness and were relentless on their pursuit for goals, and defended  tenaciously until the final whistle. All their defensive efforts paid off and kept a clean sheet to claim a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Malaysia.

With this result, U-15 Japan got through the qualifiers with three straight wins and booked a place in the AFC U-16 Championship 2018 in Malaysia next year.

After the match, KOSHIO Genki celebrated his birthday on 24 September with his teammates with a birhtday cake at dinner.

Coach's and Players' Comments

ARIMA Kenji, Coach (U-15 Japan National Team)
Our team have gone through many training camps and foreign tours, and have shared many ideas as well as the team concept. Each step has been a building block for the team and I believe this is what brought us the positive result in the qualifiers. I must thank the coaching and medical staff for all their support during the qualifiers. I am also grateful to Kashima Antlers Youth for having a practice games with us during the training camp just before the qualifiers. The players here have the talent to become a wonderful footballer in the future. I hope that they will keep challenging themselves and work on improving their strength, and continue on to have a successful career in football.

GK #1 YAMADA Taiki (Kashima Antlers Youth)
I believe I did what was required for the team to grab a win today. I saw the progress that the team have made on and off the pitch after going through a training match against Kashima Antlers Youth and the AFC qualifiers. The practice session prior to the match went well, and I believe this allowed us to enter the game positively as well. We continued to run hard until the end of the match and did not give away many scoring chances. Comparing to my teammates, I believe that I have many areas that I need to improve. I will have to work on those as well.

By reducing the number of mistakes in matches, I strive to become a goalkeeper who can give a sense of security to the team. We’ll meet even stronger opponents in the next round. I will work hard to be reselected to the national team as I make a good preparation to win the coming AFC Championship and earn a ticket to the World Cup. Personally, I usually play with the players, who are one-year younger than me. There are plenty of excellent players and I will continue to practice hard to catch up and surpass them as well.

DF #2 HANDA Riku (Montedio Yamagata Youth)
It was great that we kept a clean sheet again today. We spent the majority of time in attacking, but at the same time our players managed risks very well in midfield and limited the number of time the opponents could hit on the counter. On the other end, we struggled to break through the opponents’ defence when they stayed back and defended. I felt that we need to exploit the limited space by improving on our combination plays using minimal number of touches. I am glad that we got through the first round by displaying our style of football in all three games. However, we need to work on off-the-ball movements and the quality of our first touches and passing in order for us to win the final tournament. I will be thinking where the level of football in the world currently is as I practice hard back in my team.

FW #11 AOKI Yusuke (FC Tokyo U-15 Fukagawa)
I’m over the moon that we won three consecutive games and got through the first round by giving our best in addition to displaying my strength in attacks. However, I must add that we failed to capitalise on a number of scoring chances. I believe this is one area that we need to improve on. I felt that missing these chances could adversely affect the team and also learned that we have to make our decisions more quickly during tough stretches in the game. Having said that, I am glad I was able to display my strength and contribute to the team. The first round is only a passing point and I need to brace up for the next round of matches.

Schedule 

*Local Time
*The schedule may be subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.
*A total of 16 teams, winners of Group A~J (10 teams) and 5 best second-placed teams among all the groups in the qualifiers and hosts, will participate in the AFC U-16 Championship China 2016 which will be held on October 2018.