UAE Football Cup 1st Match vs U-17 Russia National Team
26 February 2018 (Mon.) Kick-off 16:00(Local Time) Playing Time 90min.(45min.×2)
The complex of UAE FA (Dubai/UAE)

U-17 Japan National Team 2-2 (0-1,2-1) U-17 Russia National Team

Scores
8' Goal against (U-17 Russia National Team)
50' Goal against (U-17 Russia National Team)
67'MATSUDA Eitaro (U-17 Japan National Team)
90' FUJIO Shota (U-17 Japan National Team)

Starting Line-ups
GK: MITSUI Daiki
DF: YAMASAKI Taichi, IWAI Ryuji, BABA Seiya, HANDA Riku
MF: MATSUDA Eitaro, YAMAZAKI Ryosuke, MATSUMOTO Nagi, YAMAMOTO Rihito
FW: BROWNE Noah Kenshin, SAITO Koki

Reserves
GK: ITAHASHI Yosei
DF: HASHIMOTO Shuya, KIMURA Seiji, HATA Taiga
MF: IWAMOTO Sho, ARITA Keito, KOBAYASHI Natsuki
FW: FUJIO Shota, MIYAGI Ten

Substitutions
HT YAMAZAKI Ryosuke → IWAMOTO Sho
60' MATSUMOTO Nagi → MIYAGI Ten
67' BROWNE Noah Kenshin → FUJIO Shota
84' IWAI Ryuji → HATA Taiga

Match Report

In their first match of the tournament, Japan faced U-17 Russia, who has a physical edge over them, with three centimetre advantage in average height. Both teams came out with high intensity, aggressively fighting for the ball. The aggression displayed was so high, there was a scene where a few players were brought down in one occasion. Except for their one attacker, Russia parked the bus in front of their gaol and sought for counterattacks once gaining possession. In the other hand, Japan attempted to spread the field with their quick passing, keeping their opponents off target. But in the 8th minute, Japan conceded the opening goal to Russia’s number 10 from a corner kick. Seeking for an early equaliser, Japan attacked from both flanks, led by left midfielder YAMAZAKI Ryosuke and right midfielder MATSUDA Eitaro. However, their early crosses were denied, and passes to their forwards BROWNE Noah Kenshin and SAITO Koki also failed to reach them. Facing the solid defence imposed by the Russian side, Japan could not find ways to effectively connect with their attacking third, even though they managed to keep possession in their defensive end. Without finding ways to solve the Russian defence, Japan would enter half-time with an one goal deficit.

Early in the second half Japan gave Russia a 2-0 advantage after allowing opponent's number 8 to score off of a passing error made by their defender in the 50th minute. Desperately seeking for a goal, Japan gradually found ways to connect passes in their attacking half. In the 67th minute, Saito possessed the ball up front and connected with Matsuda, who then made a cut in and fired a left-footed shot to give his side their first goal. IWAMOTO Sho drove a shot off of a cross from FUJIO Shota from the right flank in the 69th minute. His shot went inches above the cross bar, but the substitute who came in after the first goal, showed his ability to create goal scoring opportunities. In the 75th minute, Saito earned a penalty kick, giving his team a critical opportunity to cancel out the deficit. Saito took the spot kick himself, but his attempt was denied by the goalkeeper. Japan carved out a number of chances against the opponents who started to run out of steam. Showing no signs of giving up, the Japanese side kept their attacks until the very end. In the 90th minute, Saito got to the end of Matsuda's cross with a header. His shot was once parried by the goalkeeper, but Fujio volleyed home the deflection to get his team back on level terms. Japan finished their first match with a 2-2 draw, in a come from behind fashion.

Players' Comments

GK #1 MITSUI Daiki (Nagoya Grampus U-18)
I am very happy to be selected into the team for the first time. Regarding today’s game, it was nice that we were able to tie the game after we were down by two goals. But I feel like this was a game we should have won. Personally, I allowed two goals and I felt the need to improve myself as both goals should have been stopped. Having said that, I still believe that I was able to show what I am capable of at this point, and I want to continue doing so. We have two more matches to play, and I will prepare myself so that we can win those two matches in a row.

BABA Seiya (Tokyo Verdy Youth)
As a team, we made way too many easy mistakes early on and could not enter the match right. Once we got our rhythm going, we kept our defence line high, and managed to keep the game compact. However, it was evident that we didn’t handle the long balls well, so we need to improve on that. We still have two more games, and I would like to utilise those games to learn and gain more experience.

MF #17 MATSUDA Eitaro (Yokohama F-Marinos Youth)
I was nervous because it was my first match, but I think I was able to show what I am capable of and found what I need to improve on. We managed to play our game today, but it’s disappointing that we couldn’t win. But considering we were down 0-2, it was a great team effort to come back to tie the game. This experience should help us moving forward. I will do my best in the remaining two games to get good results both individually and as a team.

FW #9 BROWNE Noah Kenshin (Yokohama F-Marinos Youth)
Our opponent played a very defensive game today, and I wasn’t able to exploit their defence in the first half. I also lacked eagerness to score goals. In the second half, I was able to create chances, deep in our opponent’s half. But overall, I didn’t take much shots, and lacked movements to shake off the defence, so I want to focus on those in my next game.

Schedule

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

UAE Football Cup

Tournament Period: 26 February 2018 - 2 March 2018
For Tournament Information