Match Report

One day before their first match in the Balcom BMW CUP International Youth Soccer in Hiroshima, the U-16 Japan National Team had a training match against Setouchi High School of Hiroshima in the morning of 8 August.

Because the Japan team had had training for just one time since they were called up, they occasionally looked that they weren't on the same page early and allowed a goal to the opponents right into the game. 

But Japan scored an equalizer soon after, and then the players began understanding their own traits. They kept attacking throughout the game, creating so many critical scoring opportunities, afterward. They struggled netting those opportunities, but SAKAI Masaki scored a goal in the last minute of the game and Japan wound up winning the 30-minute-a-half match.

At the lunch time, all the players of the four participating teams had exchanged with each other, making folded-paper cranes. The U-16 Japan team, who held a short training checking their set plays in the afternoon, would be set to play against U-17 Hiroshima Selection Team on the next day.

Players' Comments

SUZUKI Kaito (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth)
This is my first time to be called up on a Japanese national team, but it's felt great that I've been able to play alongside the great players under a positive pressure. On today's training match, I think that we were able to perform with our individual speed and techniques, which are things we are better in.

We are getting in the tournament from tomorrow, but I would like to show performance to contribute to wins for our team, taking advantage of my own strengths.

SUGIURA Fumiya (Nagoya Grampus U-18)
In today's training match, we weren't still able to be on the same page, but at the same time we had moments that we played well. But we had so many scoring chances, so I want to be stick to scoring goals a lot more.

For tomorrow's game, we would like to play talking to each other especially when we start feeling fatigue while we will improve the issues we had through today's training match as much as possible, so we'll end up winning it.

SUGA Soma (Jubilo Iwata U-18)
I've been selected from the national team for the first time and I still feel nervous, but in today's training match, I was able to play how I wanted to, capitalizing on overlapping, which is my strength.

For the games from tomorrow, because we don't have advantages over teams like Uzbekistan and Poland in terms of physical size, we would like to outplay with our movements and techniques to beat those opponents.

It's been inspiring for me to have connections with the players of the same generation through our plays and off the pitch, like today's exchange event, and I would like to continue to do my best from tomorrow as well.

Schedule

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

Balcom BMW CUP International Youth Soccer in Hiroshima　Match Schedule