The 44th Toulon Tournament vs U-21 Paraguay National Team
2016-5-21 (Sat.) - 16:15   Playing Time: 80min. (40min.×2)
Stade De Lattre (Aubagne/France)

U-23 Japan National Team   1-2 (0-1, 1-1)   U-21 Paraguay National Team

Scores
18'   Goal against (U-21 Paraguay National Team)
61'   ASANO Takuma (U-23 Japan National Team)
70'   Goal against (U-21 Paraguay National Team)

Line-ups
GK: KUSHIBIKI Masatoshi
DF: KAMEKAWA Masashi, IWANAMI Takuya, UEDA Naomichi, VAN WERMESKERKEN Sai
MF: YAJIMA Shinya, HARAKAWA Riki, KIDA Takuya, NOTSUDA Gakuto
FW: ASANO Takuma, TOGASHI Cayman

Substitutes
GK: NAKAMURA Kosuke
DF: MIURA Genta, MITSUMARU Hiromu
MF: OHSHIMA Ryota, MAEDA Naoki, IDEGUCHI Yosuke
FW: ONAIWU Ado, KAMADA Daichi

34'   IWANAMI Takuya → MIURA Genta
HT   VAN WERMESKERKEN Sai → MITSUMARU Hiromu
52'   TOGASHI Cayman → ONAIWU Ado
67'   HARAKAWA Riki → MAEDA Naoki

Match Report

It turned out to be a valuable learning experience for Japan.

The 44th Toulon Tournament had its fourth day on Friday 21 May, where U-23 Japan National Team took on Paraguay in their first match which started at 16:15 (23:15 JST).

It was Japan who created the first critical chance to score. Two minutes into the match, right full-back VAN WERMESKERKEN Sai fired a shot with his right foot and gave the opposing goalkeeper a scare. Although Japan maintained high ball possession rate after that, in the 18th minute they gave away the opening goal from their own mistake.

With Japan trailing by one goal, the communication with each other on the pitch became more intense. But in this match, individual hustles did not result in collective force as a team. In the 27th minute NOTSUDA Gakuto’s left-footed strike hit the cross bar.

An unfortunate injury occurred as well. In the 34th minute, IWANAMI Takuya hurt his left knee at a physical contact with an opponent and had to be replaced by MIURA Genta. The first 40-minute half finished with the score remaining 1-0 for Paraguay. 

After the first half where ball possession did not materialise into goals scored, Japan’s shared target for the second half was to play more aggressively toward goal. It immediately showed signs of improvements. In the 49th minute HARAKAWA Riki’s left-footed shot went just left of the goal. In the 52nd minute, a cross ball from MITSUMARU Hiromu who just started manning the left full-back position in the second half resulted in a fierce attack by Notsuda.

In the 54th minute, Japan had another chance to score. ONAIWU Ado, subbed in place of TOGASHI Cayman in the 52nd minute, deflected a floating ball with his chest to YAJIMA Shinya rushing in, who right-footed it only to see the opposing goalkeeper denied it. Then the equaliser came in the 61st minute. ASANO Takuma took a vertical pass from Harakawa, beautifully turned around and controlled the ball with his left foot to put it into the back of the net.  

In the 67th minute, MAEDA Naoki came off the bench for Harakawa. His substitution was aimed to re-activate their offence, but Japan conceded the second goal right after that when Paraguay took advantage of a free-kick opportunity. During the additional time of the second half, Notsuda displayed Japan’s final highlight reel play of the match when he fired a strong long-range shot. After the match, it was found that KAMEKAWA Masashi also suffered an injury in his right foot.

With this close 2-1 loss in the books, Japan will face Portugal next on Monday 23 May. 

Coach and Players' Comments

TEGURAMORI Makoto, Coach
I was telling my players that keeping the ball doesn’t necessary means taking the control of the match, but this match really made us realise it. We were being able to show our resilience until we tied the match.

Considering the Olympic matches, now it’s time for us to learn what to do after losing the first match. Including the injuries to Iwanami and Kamekawa, this is a test for us to show how we can bounce back from here and how we overcome this adversity. We will have everyone on this squad do our best for the rest of the matches to play. 

MF #10  YAJIMA Shinya (Fagiano Okayama)
Paraguay had a decisiveness to take advantage of just one mistake of ours to score a goal. That’s something we haven’t seen when we were playing within Asia. In the first half, our plays weren’t so bad, but I think we put ourselves into a hole. We had chances including one that I had for myself, so the biggest difference between Paraguay and us was whether we could score when we were supposed to score. We can’t afford to make same mistakes from the second match on. 

FW #16  ASANO Takuma (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
When we scored, it was that the opponents were just standing and watching as Harakawa took the ball. There wasn’t much space, but I believed that he knew where I was, and I maintained my position. The possession was on our side, but Paraguay had strength to take advantage of limited chances to seal the deal. The most important thing is not to keep the ball but to have more goals scored than your opponents when the last whistle is blown. This team need to improve in terms of our aggressiveness toward scoring goals. 

FW #20  TOGASHI Cayman (Yokohama F・Marinos)
In the first half, we were passive. So before the second time we told each other to attack aggressively. We tied the match, but we also allowed the second goal. So that means we can’t get satisfied until the end. Me personally, if you ask me it was a good match or bad match, I say it was bad. But at least I am satisfied with certain things I could do. I could match up against the opponents better than expected in terms of plays on the ball, speed and physicality. We have to do nothing but win in the second match, so from the start we will show that attitude as a team. I will keep it in mind to play to my strength to help my team. 

Schedule

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