The last day of the 15th All Japan Senior (Over 60) Football Tournament and the Senior (Over 70) Football Festival was held on Monday 1 June and in the Over 60 tournament, the four teams remaining played heated contests in the semi-finals and finals to be the best team of the age group in the country. 

Semi-Finals

Muroran Senior 60 Soccer Club  1-0 (1st 1-0, 2nd 0-0)  60 Akita Selection Soccer
Yokosuka Senior Soccer Club  0-1 (1st 0-0, 2nd 0-1)  Hyogo Senior 60 Selection

Both of semi-final matches turned out to be close. Muroran Senior 60 Soccer Club (Hokkaido) took on 60 Akita Selection Soccer (Akita) and defended their lone goal scored in the first half to advance to the final. The other semi-final between Yokosuka Senior Soccer Club (Kanagawa) and Hyogo Senior 60 Selection (Hyogo) started seeing see-saw battles right after the kick-off and the first half finished without any goal scored for both sides. It was the 35th minute that the scoring was opened when Hyogo’s MATSUNAGA Masatoshi fired a shot and MINAMIMOTO Ryu put the deflection into the goal. Hyogo Senior 60 Selection kept the lead until the end and grabbed the other spot in the final.

Final

Muroran Senior 60 Soccer Club  1-3 (1st 0-2, 2nd 1-1)  Hyogo Senior 60 Selection

As HARA Hiromi, General Secretary of the Japan Football Association, made an appearance, the final match started with an early goal action. In the 2nd minute Hyogo’s Matsunaga broke through the right flank and fed a cross, which was put home for the opener by Minamimoto. Three minutes later, the same duo created another opportunity for their side. This time it was the left side Matsunaga sent a feed from, and Minamimoto’s header extended the lead to two goals. Hyogo did not slow down their offence there. Minamimoto fired another shot in the 15th minute after NAKANISHI Toru on the left flank fed a pass to the box, which went off target and Minamimoto failed to score his hat-trick.

In the second half, Hyogo kept controlling the pace of the match. In the 26th minute, Matsunaga’s cross got headed in by NOJIMA Akifumi for the third goal for their side. Muroran could not afford to keep getting beat and showed some tenacity to fight back. In the 17th minute, WATANOBE Hiroshi struck the goal from a long range to start their come-back effort. Until the additional time, Muroran’s offence led by OZAWA Yoshinori did not stop trying to narrow the gap, but Hyogo also kept their composure to defend. Finally the match ended without any more goal scored, and Hyogo’s stellar defence, which allowed only one goal in five matches in this tournament, brought them the championship trophy.

In addition, the Senior (Over 70) Soccer Festival also had the last day for the event, where the total of eight matches were played. Playing through three straight days, all the players did not show any sign of fatigue but just enthusiastic plays. After the matches, they congratulated each other for their finishing out their tough matches with good performance. The Japan Football Association will continue to provide football playing environment and opportunities to these generations of players.

Head Coach and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Susumu, Head Coach (Muroran Senior 60 Soccer Club)
This tournament lists the teams representing each region, so all the matches were tough. The difference in our levels showed in the final. We practice in a gymnasium during winter and when spring comes we start playing outside. By doing so, we get to practice once a week throughout a year to get ready for this tournament. Even when our opponents had better skills, we could advance all the way to the final. It’s because of our teamwork we have improved through our practices. But at the same time it is disappointing as well because we wanted to win the title as being representatives of our home region. We all are saying "We have got a homework to do in order to chase the title again next year." 

AMANAI Kazuhiro (Muroran Senior 60 Soccer Club)
We played three matches in five days. That was a tough schedule. But every one of us didn’t lose motivation to play. It was the third time to play against Mr. Matsunaga on Hyogo Selection. At the first time, we were in our forties and we could win. In a fifties tournament, we lost. This time we wanted to get the win again, but it wasn’t so easy. When we play in a national tournament, we can meet people from many different regions. This time was no exception and met our old friends at the pitch and at the hotel, which made me realised how wonderful it is to keep playing football.

SATO Tadashi, Head Coach (Hyogo Senior 60 Selection)
Needless to say about the championship, food at the hotel are great and everything is turning into a great memory for us. We lost in the semi-final last year, so we set the goal to win the championship this year by all means, and kept practicing against teams of fifty something year olds. The reason we had a big win in the Kansai tournament and won the championship in this national tournament is that our stamina got better through such hard work day in and day out. We never stopped running until the end. Also we always keep saying "We take care of each other" to improve our teamwork. And the teamwork paid off this time.

OKANAKA Masayasu (Hyogo Senior 60 Selection)
I am relieved to be able to win the championship because there were many teams who play so hard including Shizuoka Selection and the matches were so tough one after another. Our teamwork is the reason we won it all. We get along even better compared with our teams in the past and we help each other and shared the workload for example when we draw lines on the pitch. And that characteristics of ours showed in the matches. Speaking of my personal record, I won four championships in my fifties, but after I passed 60, we finished third in every tournament we played. We had kept asking ourselves "why we weren’t able to win." But all those struggles make this championship even more special. We will keep working hard to win it again next year.

JFA-TV(Japanese version only)

The 15th All Japan Seniors (over 60s) Football Tournament

Date: Sat. 30 May - Mon. 1 June 2015
Venue: Sun-Green Sport Village (Yubari Heiwa Sport Park)
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