On Tuesday 14 August, the U-21 Japan National Team faced the U-23 Nepal National Team in their first match of the 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang and earned a 1-0 victory.

In their first match of the tournament, Coach MORIYASU Hajime named KOJIMA Ryosuke in goal, with the defence line of HARA Teruki, TATSUTA Yugo, and SUGIOKA Daiki, while WATANABE Kouta and MATSUMOTO Taishi served as the defensive midfielders. NAGANUMA Yoichi and HATSUSE Ryo were placed in the flanks, while MIYOSHI Koji and MITOMA Kaoru were positioned as the attacking midfielders, with UEDA Ayase as the lone striker. The Nepal squad on the other hand featured many of the U-23 players who has also served in their top national team, with an addition of three over-age players entering the roster.

The match saw early action as Japan scored the opening goal in the seventh minute. The goal came when Watanabe delivered a through ball to the space behind the Nepalese defenders. Naganuma timed himself well to make the run before sending a cross into the centre to allow Mitoma to convert the opportunity with this right foot. Mitoma later reflected, “We were anticipating to score in the early minutes of the match.” With the momentum on their side, Japan continued to attack aggressively, while the Nepalese side kept their defence line deep to avoid further damage. In the 14th minute, Watanabe once again delivered a through ball between the defenders after receiving the ball from Matsumoto. This time, Ueda made the run to take a shot, but his effort went wide of the target. Ueda was featured in another opportunity in the 39th minute, when Mitoma sent a lobbing ball upfront, but the ball sailed just over the head of the striker.

Japan sought for their opportunity in the second half by moving the ball around with short passes. In the 57th minute, Ueda broke through with his dribble to create a one-on-one situation against the opposing goalkeeper but was denied from scoring a goal. Another opportunity came in the 60th minute when Mitoma carried the ball upfront and delivered the ball to Ueda, but once again came short from finding the net. In efforts to change the rhythm, ITAKURA Kou was brought in for Hatsuse in the 65th minute, while MAEDA Daizen took the place for Ueda in the 73rd minute. An opportunity was created for the second half substitute, when Hara delivered a through ball into the space behind the opposing defence line where Maeda made a run, but his timing was slightly off to threaten the Nepal goal. Despite their long stretch of goal drought, the team kept their focus high to keep their opponents away from their goal, as Tatsuta later commented, “Our goal for the defence line was to keep our composure throughout the match.” Japan’s final opportunity came in the 90th minute, when they forced a turnover deep in the Nepalese territory and earned a freekick. Miyoshi took the spot kick, but failed to paint the target, as the match ended with just a single goal scored by the Japanese side. Japan got off to a good start to the tournament by defeating the Nepal team who were led by Coach GYOTOKU Koji.

Match details

After the match, many of the Japanese players mentioned regarding their lack of goals despite creating many chances and their tasks ahead of the next match, as Mitoma reflected on their performance, “We must heighten our quality in many aspects,” while Tatsuta also mentioned, “We couldn’t create enough options and each one of us could have initiated the attacks.”

In their second group stage match, Japan will now face Pakistan on Thursday 16 August, with a one-day rest.

Coach and Players’ Comments

MORIYASU Hajime, Coach (U-21 Japan National Team)
In any given tournament, the first match is always a tough match to face, but the fact we earned three points with a clean sheet is a very positive result. If we let our guards down, our opponents would have pounced on it, but in today’s match our players kept their focus for the entire match and gave no chance to the opponents. We created many opportunities in offence but came short of scoring the deciding goal. A second goal could have led the ways to multiple goals for us, so we must need to be able to adjust to our opponents despite how they defend against us.

MF #8 MITOMA Kaoru (University of Tsukuba)
With the match being our first of the tournament, we looked a little stiff, but the fact we managed to earn three points is a major accomplishment. We could have scored more goals if we had better quality in the final third. We saw good ball movements, but we must share a mutual understanding when we deliver the vertical pass to initiate our attacks.

MF #10 MIYOSHI Koji (Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo)
We were anticipating to score in the early minutes of the match. As part of the team’s attacking third, we wanted to score more goals. In order for the team to reach the next step higher, we must earn results. (The team reached the quarterfinal at the AFC U-23 Championship) For us to make a deeper run, we must approach one match at a time. In matches like these, there will be times where we make mistakes within the 90 minutes of play, but what’s important is to avoid being scored on, so we must stay on the same page as a team.

MF #16 WATANABE Kouta (Tokyo Verdy)
It was a difficult match with our opponents playing deep to defend against us, but we managed to create some good opportunities. (Regarding the goal scene) The opponents were man-marking us, so I thought if Naganuma can make a run into the space behind the defenders, we can create a chance, and that’s where I passed the ball. Even though I managed to receive the ball in between players while keeping a good distance with our offensive midfielders, I couldn’t showcase my versatility to utilise both passing and shooting to create more chances. I need to heighten the quality of my final passes, while displaying my strong points, which are my endurance and strengths to win the ball.

Schedule

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

The 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang

Tournament Dates: Sat. 18 August - Sun. 2 September 2018

【Men's】Group Stage
1st Match Tue. 14 August 21:00 [Japan Time] vs Nepal
2nd Match Thu. 16 August 18:00 [Japan Time] vs Pakistan
3rd Match Sun. 19 August 18:00 [Japan Time] vs Vietnam

Tournament Information