Val-de-Marne U-16 International Friendly Tournament 2018
3rd Match vs U-15 England National Team
Sat. 3 November 2018 Kick-off 14: 00 Match duration 80mins (40mins x2)
Complexe Sportif, Creteil, France

U-15 Japan National Team 1-4 (1-2, 0-2) U-15 England National Team

Scores
1' goal against (U-15 England National Team)
33' goal against (U-15 England National Team)
40' SUWAMA Kosei (U-15 Japan National Team)
51' goal against (U-15 England National Team)
71' goal against (U-15 England National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: NAGATA Mio
DF: SUWAMA Kosei, MATSUKI Kuryu, ISHII Reona,TANAKA Hayato
MF: OSAKO Aoto, TOYAMA Haruki, YAMANE Riku, NAKAMURA Jiro
FW: KATSUSHIMA Shinnosuke, SHIMOKAWA Haruki

Reserves
GK: KANOSHIMA Yu
DF: OISHI Ryoya, MIZUTANI Yusuke
MF: MUKAI Hayate, NAKAI Takuhiro, TOYODA Koki
FW: NOZAWA Leon

Substitutions
36' ISHII Reona → TOYODA Koki
HT MATSUKI Kuryu → NAKAI Takuhiro
71' KATSUSHIMA Shinnosuke → NOZAWA Leon
75' OSAKO Aoto → MIZUTANI Yusuke

Match Report

The U-15 Japan National Team faced the U-15 England National Team in their third and final match of the Val-de-Marne U-16 International Friendly Tournament 2018. With England coming off back-to-back wins, they have proved that they are the strongest opposition at this tournament.

Despite Japan’s intention to take the initiative of the match, England scored the opening goal in the first minute of the match. With England utilising their speed and power, Japan conceded the goal off a fast break before they were even ready. Although the goal has ruined the game plan for Japan, the two defensive midfielders, YAMANE Riku (Yokohama F・Marinos Junior Youth) and TOYAMA Haruki (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-15) played a vital role for them to recoup their composure and take control of the match. However, despite their efforts to carry the ball upfront, they struggled to find ways to score goals and in the 33rd minute, conceded another goal to England from their mistake in the defence line. Japan would continue to show great pace in their offence despite trailing by two goals, and their efforts finally materialised in the 40th minute, when SUWAMA Kosei (Yokohama F・Marinos Junior Youth) converted an opportunity following a corner kick to send the match into halftime with a score of 1-2.

In efforts to level the match, Japan rallied in the second half, but conversely gave up goals in the 51st and 71st minute, finishing the match with a final score of 1-4. As a result, England took down the title with their three wins, while France finished as the runners-up. Japan ended in third place and Austria was in fourth.

Coach and Players' Comments

MORIYAMA Yoshiro, Coach (U-15 Japan National Team)
This tour in France has given us a great learning experience, as we were given the opportunity to face the world’s powerhouses such as Austria (FIFA ranking 24th), France (2nd), England (5th). All three teams showed great determination to win the match against us, but we still managed to showcase great ball movements and create many opportunities in offence. However, at the same time, we couldn’t quite cope against the powerful attacks of our opponent’s offence and conceded many goals. The result is not something we can be satisfied with and we still need to improve on our offence to heighten the quality of our plays in the final third. By playing abroad, we get to face players with massive physiques and incredible athleticism, which we normally don’t see in Japan. Although we can respond against such players with a collective approach, we are often beaten when facing them one-on-one. This tells us that we need to work on these one-on-one situations more often during our daily trainings. We usually conduct intense drills that simulates such situations, but in this tour, we had very limited time to train, and as a result, we couldn’t hold a session that consists such intense drills, so that was somewhat regretful.

As the result shows, England was by far the strongest team in this tournament. The speed and quality shown in their passes, their ball handling skills, and their ability to make quick and accurate decisions were outstanding. With their success at the recent FIFA U-17 World Cup, their flashy offence has been featured the most in the media, but their fundamental quality was on full display during this tournament. The players will now return to their own club, but I hope they will utilise and implement what they have felt and learnt here to improve themselves as a player. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has allowed the players to join this team during the precious time before the Prince Takamado Trophy. I know some of the teams had their qualifiers during this tour, so I would like to thank the clubs, schools, coaches, staffs, and the parents for giving us this opportunity. Thank you very much.

GK #12 NAGATA Mio (Werder Bremen/Germany)
I am very happy to be selected into this team. This opportunity to face teams like England, Austria, and France has given me a tremendous learning experience. However, the result did not come out as we hoped. We faced many players with great athleticism and their shots came from different angles and speed. The opponents also showed very clever build-ups. I feel like I wasn’t able to play up to my full potential. I played in the England match where we conceded four goals, and that result is very disappointing. I must reflect on the match and analyse what went wrong, so that I can utilise this experience to improve myself. I will continue to work hard in Germany so that I can be called up in the older age categories in the future.

DF #13 MIZUTANI Yusuke (Senrioka FC)
I am very thankful for all the people who has helped me to get here. This tour has given me a great experience to face the physiques and athleticism of the foreign players, which is something we don’t get to experience in Japan. It made me realise that I must rethink the way I dribble and control the ball. I will take home this precious experience and implement it into my daily trainings. Once I return to my club, I will continue to work hard to earn good results so that I can be called up to the national team again.

MF #14 NAKAI Takuhiro (Real Madrid Cadete A/Spain)
This was my first time getting called up to the national team. It was evident that our opponents had the upper hand in terms of the intensity to win the ball and the strategical approach in both offence and defence. It made us realise that we need to work harder in order for us to excel at the world stage. I will return to Madrid and work to strengthen my defensive game.

Schedule

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