U-18 Japan National Team Panda Cup 2015 League match 2nd vs. U-18 China National Team
2015-6-26 (Fre.)  - 19:30   Playing Time: 90min (45min. x 2)
Shuangliu Sports Centre Stadium (Chengdu, China)

U-18 China National Team  1-5 (1st 1-1、2nd 0-4)   U-18 Japan National Team

Score
6'   KISHIMOTO Takeru (Japan)
34'   Goal against (China)
53'   KISHIMOTO Takeru (Japan)
67'   KISHIMOTO Takeru (Japan)
69'   KISHIMOTO Takeru (Japan)
83'   OGAWA Koki（Japan）

Line-ups
GK: HIROSUE Riku
DF: YANAGI Takahiro, NODA Hiroki, MACHIDA Koki, FUNAKI Kakeru
MF: IWASAKI Yuto, SUZUKI Tokuma, MORISHIMA Tsukasa, SUGIMORI Koki
FW: KISHIMOTO Takeru, ICHIMI Kazunari

Substitutes
GK: KOJIMA Ryosuke
DF: FUJITANI So, TOMIYASU Takehiro, URATA Itsuki
MF: KUBOTA Kazune, SASAKI Takumi, NAGANUMA Yoichi
FW: OGAWA Koki

HT   SUGIMORI Koki → SASAKI Takumi
HT   YANAGI Takahiro → FUJITANI So
64'   ICHIMI Kazunari → OGAWA Koki
78'   FUNAKI Kakeru → URATA Itsuki
78'   SUZUKI Tokuma → TOMIYASU Takehiro
78'   KISHIMOTO Takeru → NAGANUMA Yoichi
87'   IWASAKI Yuto → KUBOTA Kazune
90+2'   HIROSUE Riku → KOJIMA Ryosuke

Match Report

U-18 Japan National Team took on the host U-18 China National Team in their second match of the Panda Cup.

Because of the cheers by the Chinese supporters, Japan had to play in a hostile atmosphere, but Japan quickly took a lead early. On the 6th minute, Japan robbed the ball in the mid field, and IWASAKI Yuto fed it to KISHIMOTO Takeru, who was open before the China goal. Kishimoto successfully received it, and netted it into the left corner.

Japan retained the momentum afterward and kept making some scoring chances with attacks from the sides, but were unable to add a goal. China created a chance in the right side and scored a goal to tie. The game entered halftime at 1 all.

Yet Japan retrieved a lead in the second half. On the 53rd minute, Japan gave a free kick in their territory, but robbed the ball there and had a counter attack with Kishimoto and Iwasaki.

Iwasaki kicked a low cross from the right side and Kishimoto connected it into the net for the second goal for Japan. And then on the 67th minute, SUZUKI Tokuma received the ball in the mid field and sent a through pass. Kishimoto took it again and fired a shot, making a quick body turn. He sank it into the next to complete a hat trick.

On the 69th minute, Japan's collective defence up front caused a mistake by China. Kishimoto took the ball before the China goal, and he made it into the left side of it. Japan secured a win with a 4-1 lead there, but still attempted to extend the gap.

At last on the 83rd minute, NAGANUMA Yoichi and URATA Itsuki, both of whom came in as substitutes, attacked in the left side with combination plays and launched a cross. OGAWA Koki, also a late substitute, headed it into the net to make the score 5-1. Behind the four-goal performance by Kishimoto, Japan post a landscape win over China.

Japan will play their third game of the tournament against Slovakia, who also have had two wins, on the 28th with the championship at stake.

Players' Comments 

NODA Hiroki (Otsu High School)
We had to play in a complete away mood against China because it was their home today. Also, it gave us a tough environment with the high temperature and humidity, but we are relieved that we came out with the win.

But both as an individual and as a team, we had some issues left. We made some careless mistakes, which led to their counter attacks, and we had some occasion that we were slow to make adjustments in moving our defensive line, so we thought we needed to correct them. We will have a Slovakia game the day after tomorrow, so we would like to have a better preparation so we'll have a better content and result again.

YANAGI Takahiro (F.C. Tokyo U-18)
I had few chances to touch the ball in the first half, and wasn't able to make origins in the side, which I was told by our head coach before the game. I also felt that I needed to increase the number of the time to get myself involved in our offensive plays, which is my strength. We have one more game to play, and want to finish with three straight wins.

KISHIMOTO Takeru (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
Today's game against China was a game that we couldn't afford to lose, so I came in it trying to do what I can do first. And I was able to score six minuted into the game and it gave me some rhythm. I scored a few more afterward and it feels good that I could help the team's win.

I'm happy that I scored four goals, but the tournament hasn't finished yet, so I would like to prepare well for our next match against Slovakia.

HIROSUE Riku (Aomori Yamada High School)
We played in the away atmosphere today, and although we scored a lot, it ended up a tough match. We can give ourselves a credit that we got away with the win. 

As a team, we had some occasions that we created some scoring opportunities but couldn't connect them for goals, and defensively we had some issues in terms of our collectiveness. Toward our next game against Slovakia, we will need to correct out issues and hope to get in the game well-prepared.

Schedule

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

Panda Cup 2015
Four coutries of China, Kyrgyz Republic, Slovakia and Japan will play a round-robin.

Future Schedule