Group Stage 3rd match of the 12th Delle Nazioni Tournament
U-16 Japan National Team vs. U-16 Italy National Team
Mon. 27 April 2015 Kick Off 17:00 Playing time: 70min (35min ×2)
Monfalcone(Italy/Monfalcone)

U-16 Italy Nationat Team   0-0（1st 0-0、2nd 0-0）  U-16 Japan National Team

Starters
GK: WAKAHARA Tomoya
DF: TANAKA Riku, NAKAGAWA So, HASHIOKA Daiki, NAKAYA Yuki
MF: SATO Subaru, FUJIMOTO Kanya, ITO Hiroki, HIRAKAWA Rei
FW: SUGIURA Fumiya, NAKAMURA Shunta

Substitutes
GK: TAKASE Kazuna
DF: SENBA Taishi, KEMMOTSU Takumu, TANAKA Kosuke
MF: NAKANO Yuta, YOSHIDA Shun, SUMIDA Sho
FW: HASHIMOTO Jin, TAGAWA Kyosuke

65min  SATO Subaru　→　SUMIDA Sho
68min  SUGIURA Fumiya　→　HASHIMOTO Jin

Match Report

Japan took on Italy in the final match of the group league.
In the situation where Japan would pass through the group league atop with a victory, they went on an attacking surge from the start. After 15 minutes, Sato Subaru launched a left-footed shot after receiving the ball on the right, but it went off target. After 25 minutes, when Nakamura Shunta broke through the right flank and fed a cross, Hirakawa Rei, running in from the left, produced a header, but the opposing goalkeeper made a fine save. While Japan took the initiative of the match, the first half ended scoreless.

Japan kept their pace in the second half but struggled to create chances against Italian solid defence. Hashioka Daiki rushed to head a corner kick off target. In the 58th minute, Hirakawa dribbled through the left side and slotted a cross into the box before Sato fired it with his left foot just as he did in the first half. It, however, went wide off the goalmouth, and Japan failed to score a goal again. In the closing minutes, as Italy, who would get through the group stage atop at least with a draw, parked the bus in front of goal, Japan were unable to score until the end. The match ended at 0-0 and Japan finished their qualifying round in second spot.

Consequently, Japan advance to the 5th to 8th place tournament and play the next match on 29th.

Match Detail 

Comments From Players

HASHIOKA Daiki (Urawa Reds Youth)
I’m very disappointed we weren’t able to get to the top place tournament. It was good we had a serious match against one of the world’s leading teams Italy in the tense atmosphere, but it’s disappointing we didn’t win it out. We were able to play equally against such opponents whose players have high-level individual skills. That gives us confidence. Especially, it was good that we didn’t lose so many battles on loose balls. It was also good we stuck to controlling the back line well, which we were actually trying to do. In the next match, we will focus on the result and work hard for a victory.

FUJIMOTO Kanya (Tokyo Verdy Youth)
While we would be getting through the group stage on top, it’s disappointing we rushed too much and weren’t able to score. It’s important for us to improve passing accuracy and adjust timing between a passer and a receiver. We’ve also got to take shots even more greedily. Individually, quality of my long-distance shots and passes was low, so I will try to improve the quality during the rest of the matches.

TANAKA Riku (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
In the situation where we needed a win to advance to the next with first place in the league, we all went out to win together. But it ended up drawing and failed to get top spot. As an individual, I tried to aggressively get involved in attacks but messed up the timing and wasn’t able to receive the ball. As a team, we dominated the match and created some good chances but failed to score. Even though we didn’t pass through the qualifying round with first place, we still have more matches left, so I will aggressively try to get involved in our attacking plays and score goals as a team.

NAKAGAWA So (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
I personally got into the match with focusing on marking opponent players, taking good line control and making right judgments, all at a higher level than those in the previous matches. But we rushed too much to target for a goal and gave away the ball before breaking through the opposing defence well. And conversely we allowed them to attack for critical situations. We have gradually shared right decision-making through three qualifying matches, but we need to further share that as an individual and as a team so that it will help us win a match. Although we weren’t able to pass through the group with first place in the league, we will move on to further get together as a team.

Schedule

*Local time

The 12th Delle Nazioni Tournament

Future Schedule