The 28th Valentin Granatkin International Football Tournament Match 3rd  vs  U-18 Lithuania
2016-1-7 (Thu.) - 14:15   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2) 
Peterburgsky SCC (Russia/Saint Petersburg)

U-18 Japan National Team   2-2 (0-2, 2-0)   U-18 Lithuania National Team

Scores
11'   Goal against (U-18 Lithuania National Team)
38'   Goal against (U-18 Lithuania National Team)
85'   ITO Ryotaro (U-18 Japan National Team)
88'   NAKAMURA Shunta (U-18 Japan National Team)

Line-ups
GK: WAKAHARA Tomoya
DF: KAJIYAMA Kanta, MORIOKA Riku, TOMIYASU Takehiro, NISHIMOTO Takanobu
MF: MIYAZAKI Kiwara, SASAKI Takumi, SAITO Mitsuki, FUJIMOTO Kanya
FW: CARDONA Zen, YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa

Substitutes
GK: OSAKO Keisuke
DF: HASEGAWA Takumi, MORISHITA Reiya, TANAKA Riku
MF: ITO Hiroki
FW: ITO Ryotaro, NAKAMURA Shunta

59'   MIYAZAKI Kiwara → ITO Ryotaro
59'   CARDONA Zen → NAKAMURA Shunta
78'   MORIOKA Riku → ITO Hiroki

Match Report

U-18 Japan National Team played against the U-18 Lithuania National Team in the Valentin Granatkin International Football Tournament.

Even though they were desperate to get their first victory of this competition, they couldn’t create any offensive form to make shots. Instead, Japan conceded two goals in the 11th and 38th minutes, through Lithuania counter attacks.

In the 2nd half, Japan gradually started to find empty spaces where they could receive the ball in good timings and to make shots. After the 30th minute of the 2nd half, substitute player ITO Ryotaro dribbled into the opponent’s penalty area from left wing and won a penalty due to being fouled.

However, YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa’s shot was well-blocked by the opponent’s goalkeeper and the rest of time flew away. Japan kept working hard, attacking the Lithuania’s goal and they got the chance towards the end of the match; in the 85th minute, Ito sneaked into the front of the goal with a skillful dribble and passed it to Yoshihira, who played it back to Ito and his shot successfully found the right corner of the net. Japan needed 1 more goal to equalise the score.

In the 88th minute, ITO Hiroki passed the ball deeply to NAKAMURA Shunta and he immediately passed it to Yoshihira. He carried it closer to the goal to attract defenders while Nakamura ran into an empty space. The ball was passed to Nakamura and he calmly scored the equaliser. Japan kept attacking to score additional goal, but the match ended 2-2.

Japan could not win, but it was a positive match for Japan leading to the next match; they could score in a consistent form, which was indeed "Japanese style football."

Players' Comments

FW ＃11  CARDONA Zen (Kiryu Daiichi High School)
Today, we couldn’t play calmly due to the first 2 goals that we lost and as an individual player and as a team, we couldn’t make good offensive forms in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, we could catch up with them turning aside their intensive defence. I want to utilise the lesson learned today for next time. We want to capture the opponent’s play style to be able to get good space to launch attacks. I want to switch my mind to make good results for the rest of our matches.

DF ＃3  MORIOKA Riku (Jubilo Iwata U-18)
In the 1st half, I noticed that they had lower defence line but we conceded 2 goals due to our own mistakes which allowed them counter attacks. In the 2nd half, we communicated better on the pitch to make effective attacks and that made us score 2 goals. However, it is the issue that we couldn’t add another goal to beat them. In the next one, we have to score at any opportunity to win.

FW ＃8  NAKAMURA Shunta (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
Since we had lost the previous 2 matches, we had to win today’s match. It is such a frustrating fact that we couldn’t win. It was a bitter start since we conceded 2 goals so I entered the pitch with a strong will to score when I was substituted. I could score one goal, but I could have scored more since we had more chances. This is my issue. For the rest of matches, we will be united as much as possible to win.

Schedule

*Local time

The 28th Valentin Granatkin International Football Tournament Group Rosters

Group A : Saint Petersburg, Belarus, Slovakia, Japan, Lithuania
Group B : Finland, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Moldova, Russia
Group C : Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Bulgaria