AFC U-19 Championship 2018 Qualifiers
First Match vs U-18 Mongolia National Team 
4 November 2017 (Sat.) Kick-off 16:00 (Local time) Playing Time 90min.(45min.×2）
Football Centre MFF (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

U-18 Japan National Team 7-0（3-0, 4-0）U-18 Mongolia National Team

Scores
13'　HARA Taichi（U-18 Japan National Team）
37'　own goal（U-18 Japan National Team）
41'　GOKE Yuta（U-18 Japan National Team）
46'　ANDO Mizuki（U-18 Japan National Team）
51'　own goal（U-18 Japan National Team）
67'　TANIGUCHI Hiroto（U-18 Japan National Team）
86'　TANAKA Riku（U-18 Japan National Team）

Starting Line-ups
GK：OSAKO Keisuke
DF：KAWAI Ayumu HASHIOKA Daiki, TANIGUCHI Hiroto, OGIWARA Takuya
MF：HORI Kenta, SAITO Mitsuki, KAWAMURA Takumu, GOKE Yuta
FW：ANDO Mizuki, HARA Taichi

Reserves
GK：WAKAHARA Tomoya, SARUTA Haruki
DF：ISHIHARA Hirokazu, SUGIYAMA Danto, NAKAMURA Yuta
MF：TANAKA Riku, FUJIMOTO Kanya, ITO Hiroki, SUGIURA Fumiya
FW：ABE Hiroki, TAGAWA Kyosuke

Substitutions
64'　HORI Kenta → FUJIMOTO Kanya
64'　GOKE Yuta → TANAKA Riku
82'　HARA Taichi → TAGAWA Kyosuke

Match Report

U-18 Japan National Team faced U-18 Mongolia in their first match of the AFC U-19 Championship 2018 Qualifiers Group I. Japan took the early initiative in the 13th minute, when left fullback OGIWARA Takuya broke through the opponents’ defence on the right with excellent dribbling skill and delivered a left-footed cross to the front of the goal, and HARA Taichi dashed to the near post to score an opening goal for the Japanese squad.

Japan doubled their advantage on 37 minutes. Ogiwara collected the ball on the right and crossed to the centre this time with his right foot. ANDO Mizuki’s header hit the post, but the ball deflected off the Mongolian goalkeeper and went into the net. In the 41st minute, Japan got a free-kick on their right side and KAWAI Ayumu sent in a right-footed cross, which GOKE Yuta successfully struck home with a header. The first half ended with Japan taking a 3-0 lead.

Japan’s pace didn’t slow down in the second half. Thirty seconds after the restart, captain SAITO Mitsuki dished a precise pass from the centre circle to the left, where Goke controlled it well before he squared it to Ogiwara who surged up on the overlap to cross it to the middle. HARA collected the ball and exploited an open space where onrushing Ando made no mistake to net the fourth for the Japanese side. Five minutes later, Saito received a short corner on the right, and Ando dashed to the cross, but could not make contact with the ball. Fortunately for Japan, it hit one of the Mongolian defenders and went directly into the goal for their fifth of the match.

After 67 minutes, Japan got a corner on the right side. The ball that was delivered in front of the goal was cleared to the left, but substitute FUJIMOTO Kanya got to loose ball and centred it for TANIGUCHI Hiroto to tap in the deflection off the Mongolian goalkeeper with his right foot to extend the advantage to 6-0.

The seventh and the last goal came in for the Japanese internationals in the 86th minute, when another substitute TANAKA Riku kept the ball on the left and crossed it to the front of the goal. It looked as if Ando, who ran to the near side, touched the ball before the opposing defender or goalkeeper could clear it out of danger, but it was actually Tanaka’s cross that went untouched and directly into the net. U-19 Japan got off to an excellent start to the tournament by claiming a 7-0 sweeping victory over Mongolia. Their second match will be against U-18 Singapore National Team on Monday 6 November.

Comments

GK #1 OSAKO Keisuke (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
Since it was the first match of the qualification round, we could maintain a high level of focus. We did well in scoring many goals as well as not allowing Mongolia to create scoring chances. We have the next match in two days’ time, so we will make a good preparation to win one match at a time as a untied team.

MF #6 TANAKA Riku (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
We made the best possible preparations as a team for the first match. In the early part of the first half, we scored an opening goal and, thereafter, managed to tally more goals by attacking from both flanks. We kept playing well with a high level of concentration both offensively and defensively. I was brought on in the second half and was able to displayed my strength, including running into open space behind defenders and defending from the frontline. However, I failed to score despite having good chances. For the next match, I will keep working hard to improve myself and contribute even more to the team.

MF #14 GOKE Yuta (Aomori Yamada High School)
I am happy to be called up for the national team of the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers. It was not easy since it was our first match, but we still managed to display our style of football. Today, I entered the pitch as a left midfielder and scored a goal. This was a positive start for myself and I hope I can gain some momentum after this performance. We only secured a win in the opening match and still have two more matches before the qualifiers end. We will continue our hard work to win convincingly.

Schedule

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

【2018 AFC U-19 Championship】
Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams among all the groups in the qualifiers and hosts (a total of 16 teams) will participate in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship that is schedule to begin from 18 October and end in 4 November next year.

AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2018 Qualifiers

Tournament Period：31 October 2017(Tue.)～8 November 2017(Wed.)

Tournament Information