Spain Tour 1st Match vs U-18 Scotland National Team
Thu. 5 September 2019 11:00 Match duration 90mins (45mins×2)
Pinatar Arena (Spain)

U-18 Japan National Team 1-1 (1-0, 0-1) U-18 Scotland National Team

Scores
17' OMORI Shingo (U-18 Japan National Team)
65' goal against (U-18 Scotland National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: OBATA Yuma
DF: ISHIDA Ryotaro, HAYASHIDA Kaito, KIMURA Seiji, IKEDA Kou
MF: ISHIURA Taiga, SHIBATA Sosuke, KAWASAKI Sota, NAKAYAMA Riku
FW: OMORI Shingo, UENAKA Asahi

Reserves
GK: KOKUBO Leobrian
DF: NISHIO Ryuya, MIHARA Shuma, KATO Hijiri, BABA Seiya
MF: MATSUOKA Daiki, ODA Yutaro, MATSUMOTO Nagi, AYUKAWA Shun
FW: FUJIO Shota, HARUYAMA Misaki, SAKURAGAWA Soromon

Substitutions
HT OMORI Shingo → FUJIO Shota
HT SHIBATA Sosuke → MATSUMOTO Nagi
73' UENAKA Asahi → HARUYAMA Misaki
73' NAKAYAMA Riku → AYUKAWA Shun
78' IKEDA Kou → KATO Hijiri
78' ISHIDA Ryotaro → MIHARA Shuma

Match Report

On Thursday 5 September, the U-18 Japan National Team played their first match of their Spain tour, where they drew 1-1 against the U-18 Scotland National Team. With the UEFA European U-19 Championship scheduled ahead of them, the Scottish utilised their physical advantage to make runs down the line and showcased solid defence throughout the match.

The match started off with an intense atmosphere where the two sides clashed in the midfield. In the sixth minute, a Scottish player dribbled through the right side before firing a powerful shot, but his attempt was denied by the goal post. As the match progressed, Japan started to gather their composure to create more opportunities from both flanks. In the 17th minute, Japanese defender IKEDA Kou broke through the left side before sending a sharp cross towards the centre. Despite being under pressure, forward UENAKA Asahi managed to redirect the delivery to OMORI Shingo, who struck the ball into the net to give Japan the opening goal. With momentum on their side, Japan continued to create more chances in the first half. In the final minutes of the half, Uenaka responded to a loose ball in front of the Scottish goal, but his shot was just off the target, as Japan entered halftime with a 1-0 lead.

After seeing the Japanese side showing their dominance in the first half, the second half saw the Scottish side taking the initiative, as they rallied back to level the match. Although Japan initially did a fine job to respond against the opponent’s attacks, Scotland gradually took control of the match as Japan started to make simple mistakes. In the 65th minute, Japan mishandled a longball and conceded the equaliser from an apparent lack of communication between their defence and the goalkeeper. Soon after, Scotland threatened the Japanese goal in the 76th minute with a header struck from a corner kick, but OBATA Yuma made a superb save to deny Scotland’s opportunity to take the lead. Japan continued to struggle to find their rhythm in the second half. Japan’s final opportunity came in the 87th minute, but the shot taken by FUJIO Shota fell short from hitting the target, as the game ended with a final score of 1-1. The U-18 Japan National Team will now face the host nation, U-18 Spain National Team on Thursday 6.

Players' Comments

GK #12 OBATA Yuma (Vegalta Sendai Youth)
In today’s match, we managed to keep our line high from the early minutes of the match. However, we struggled to find our rhythm in the second half and conceded from a series of bad plays. I also made many mistakes in our build-up plays and couldn’t help the team pick up the pace. This result has made us realise the importance of one goal. During this tour, we will be facing top class teams like Spain and Scotland, so I hope to showcase my strong points to make a case for myself to survive in this team. We will learn from this match and make the necessary adjustments to reduce the mistakes in tomorrow’s match. We will continue to challenge ourselves and strive to earn a win.

DF #22 HAYASHIDA Kaito (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
Today we made many mistakes to lose the ball and gave up the momentum to our opponents. We conceded from a series of bad plays and placed ourselves in a tough spot. We weren’t able to convert our opportunities, and as a result, we ended up with a very regretful draw. During this tour, I will give my utmost efforts to make a case for myself while helping the team to win games. Through the matches against the world’s top teams, I will like to find out if my skills can be effective at this level and which aspects I need to improve on. I hope to learn as much as I can to get closer to the world standards. We will be facing a wonderful opponent tomorrow, so we will prepare ourselves in the best way possible to win the match.

MF #6 NAKAYAMA Riku (Ventforet Kofu)
With this being our first match of this tour, we entered the match with great motivation. However, we made many passing mistakes and failed to find our rhythm. This match made us realise that we lack the ability to read the flow of the game and overturn the momentum, especially when we were the inferior side. We hope to improve on our approach to win the ball and heighten our combination plays during this tour. We will implement what we learned from this match to do a better job tomorrow.

MF #16 ISHIURA Taiga (Tokyo Verdy Youth)
There were many occasions where I wanted the ball but couldn’t receive the ball in today’s match. It made me realise that I need to demand for the ball more and share my image to my teammates. I also have to be more eager to score goals. We must strive to become a team that can score more goals while keeping a clean sheet, regardless of who we face. The pitch conditions are very different from Japan, but in order to compete at the world level, we must be able to make the adjustments without any problem. I hope to enjoy myself as I perform on the pitch.

Schedule

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