The 28th Valentin Granatkin International Football Tournament Match 2nd  vs  U-18 Saint Petersburg Selection
2016-1-4 (Mon.) - 19:00   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2) 
Peterburgsky SCC (Russia/Saint Petersburg)

U-18 Saint Petersburg Selection   4-3 (1-2, 3-1)   U-18 Japan National Team

Scores
5'   Goal against (U-18 Saint Petersburg Selection)
27'   ITO Ryotaro (U-18 Japan National Team)
41'   ITO Ryotaro (U-18 Japan National Team)
55'   Goal against (U-18 Saint Petersburg Selection)
63'   Goal against (U-18 Saint Petersburg Selection)
64'   NAKAMURA Shunta (U-18 Japan National Team)
86'   Goal against (U-18 Saint Petersburg Selection)

Line-ups
GK: OSAKO Keisuke
DF: HASEGAWA Takumi, MORIOKA Riku, MORISHITA Reiya, TANAKA Riku
MF: NISHIMOTO Takanobu, TOMIYASU Takehiro, ITO Hiroki, FUJIMOTO Kanya
FW: ITO Ryotaro, NAKAMURA Shunta

Substitutes
GK: WAKAHARA Tomoya
MF: MIYAZAKI Kiwara, SASAKI Takumi, SAITO Mitsuki, KAJIYAMA Kanta
FW: CARDONA Zen, YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa, SUGA Daiki

HT   NISHIMOTO Takanobu → SUGA Daiki
69'   MORIOKA Riku → SASAKI Takumi

Match Report

The second group game was against a local Saint Petersburg Selection.

Japan were determined to win the game after their defeat in the first game. However, in the fifth minute, the team reacted poorly to a long-distance ball from the opponent’s goalkeeper, and failed to pass it properly to the goalkeeper OSAKO. The ball went into Japanese goal, giving the opponent the opener. After 27 minutes, ITO Hiroki intercepted in defence on the left side to send the ball into the opponent’s goal area, where ITO Ryotaro reacted, calmly knocking the ball into the right-hand corner to level the game.

In the 41st minute, ITO Ryotaro once more started dribbling through the opponent’s goal area, and earned a free kick by provoking a foul. Then he struck a goal directly into the right-hand corner, building a one-goal lead before halftime.

Just after the second half started, the Saint Petersburg Selection attacked again with long-distance balls, which gave them some momentum. After 55 minutes, the opponent received a clear ball in front of Japan’s goal, and scored the equaliser. In the 63rd minute, they ran towards the space behind the Japanese defenders responding to another long-distance ball, and the forward took a shot into the right-hand corner, turning the game around.

After 64 minutes, ITO Ryotaro, FUJIMOTO, and NAKAMURA coordinated in passing the ball around to get through the defenders, so that Nakamura scored a goal to level the game once more. Despite many goal-scoring opportunities for both teams, neither could find the back of the net any more. In the 86th minute, the Saint Petersburg Selection earned a free kick in the centre of the penalty area from Japanese defenders’ foul. The team struck a deciding goal to alter the balance in their favour. Japan continued to struggle to react to the opponent’s long-distance balls until the final whistle. Japan lost the second match 4-3.

Players' Comments

GK #1  OSAKO Keisuke (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
I faced today’s game, thinking of leading the team. However, I didn’t prepare myself well enough despite my determination. As a result, we conceded four goals, and were not able to win the match. I’d like to coordinate with my teammates in everyday practice sessions, sharing tactics in games, so that we can make judgments accurately. I’d like to be the kind of player, who prepares himself perfectly and leads the team.

DF #2  HASEGAWA Takumi (Albirex Niigata U-18)
Although we were required to win today’s match, unfortunately we couldn’t. However, we learned from yesterday’s loss and played aggressively both in attack and defence. Having said that, as there were careless mistakes both as a team and as individuals, we’d like to fix these within two days to win all the remaining matches.

MF #6  ITO Ryotaro (Sakuyo High School)
As we were defeated completely in the first game, we played to get a positive result today. However, we couldn’t find our rhythm from the beginning, and let the opponent concede a goal from our mistake.

We did pull ourselves together to turn the match around once, though. If we had built a two-goal lead, we could have played more easily. However, we couldn’t score through our opportunities and let the opponent attack strongly again. We conceded again through a mistake, and lost the game in the end. I learned that I needed to be the kind of player, who can score through limited opportunities. As the championship will continue, I’d like to refresh my mind for the next match.

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