The 14th All Japan Seniors (over 50) Football Tournament entered its second day and had matchday 2 and 3 contests of the first round on Sunday 28 June.

FC Maebashi 50 (Kanto1/ Gunma) got through Group A. The Gunma side was tied with Sunpu Football Club (Tokai/ Shizuoka) on points after the matchday 2. However, while Sunpu drew with Kagawa Senior (Shikoku 2/ Kagawa) on the matchday 3, Maebashi edged Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki Senior (Kyushu 1/ Nagasaki) 3-2 to clinch a last four spot.

In Group B, Hyogo Prefecture Senior 50 Selection (Kansai/ Hyogo) made a final round berth with a three-match unbeaten run. The Hyogo side were rock-solid with the perfect offence and defence, recording 10 goals and no goals against. Although Alfoot Azumino Senior (Hokushinetsu/ Nagano), the runners-up of the last tournament, showed some pride in the third match against Akita Senior Soccer Club 50 (Tohoku 2/ Akita), their effort was short to reach the last four. 

The second matchday results affected the following battles in Group C. While Fujieda Football Club (Host/ Shizuoka) lost to Kumamoto Senior (Kyushu 2/ Kumamoto), Yamanashi Masters Legend (Kanto 1/ Yamanashi) added three points in the Ozu Senior FC (Shikoku 1/ Ehime) match. In the their third match against Fujieda, Yamanashi allowed Fujieda, whose only way to the final round was grabbing a win, to attack fiercely, yet Yamanashi defenders committed themselves to deny the opposing attacking surge. Yamanashi managed to share the spoils 0-0 to grab their first-ever final round spot.

Group D turned out to be a three-horse race for the top spot by Furukawa Sonen Soccer Aikokai (Lazos Koga F.C./ Kanto 3/ Ibaraki), Hitsujigaoka Old Kickers 2002/ Ov50 (Hokkaido 2) and Tabunoki Soccer Club (Tohoku 1/ Akita). Furukawa allowed a lead to Tottori Prefecture Senior SC 50 (Chugoku/ Tottori) early in their third match, where Furukawa would seal the top spot even with a draw. But the Ibaraki side equalised in the second half before sealing the spot to advance through the group by goal difference.

The final day of the tournament has three matches as the final round (semi-finals and final) on Monday 29 June. Maebashi and Hyogo face each other in one of the semi-finals, while Yamanashi and Furukawa meet in the other match.

Players’ Comments

MINAKAWA Ryuji (Tabunoki Soccer Club)
I'm happy to get our first-ever win in our 16th match at the finals. Maybe because I had alcohol that I love last night and refreshed my body and mind, I was able to score a winner in the second match. I really wanted to get a win at any cost, so that's great. It's been 40 years since I started playing football when I was an elementary school student. And nothing has changed my happy feeling of sharing the victory with my peers. I will keep up my work with my motto ? to enjoy playing on top of the mindset to stick to winning.

TOKUOKA Takumi (Torrori Prefecture Senior SC 50)
We’d been eager to get to the final round but wasn't able to put up a good result. That's disappointing. That reminded me of the difficulty of winning at the national tournament. To me, football is something I'm committing to in my life, and it's an important place where I can be a different person even when I get headache at work. I was thinking to stop playing football at my mid 40’s. But As I was getting closer to 50's, I was boosted up to play again. I want to play with my teammates again in other places. I got my heart broken in this tournament, so I'm almost losing desire, though.

MARUYAMA Takashi (Yamanashi Masters Legend)
I'm simply happy to get through to the final round. We had a string of close contests in the Kanto qualifiers. And I think we were able to show our strength at this tournament again, being tenacious with everyone calling out with each other. We have a team athletic trainer accompanying with us, and such support really helps us. Most of the players in my team are my old peers who I know since I was a student or playing at the semi-pro level. It means football connected us together. In the tournament like this, a get-together after a match is also special and I will enjoy the time until the end.

MIWA Masahiro (Fujieda Football Club)
It's disappointing we didn't make it to the final round. The loss in the second match (against Kumamoto Senior) hurt us. It was hard to play three matches in two days in the heat, but I was able to spend valuable time playing with my teammates against teams from different regions. The joy we get when we play our way and score goal and also the attitude we have for one-on-one situations have never changed at any age. I will continue to enjoy football as long as possible.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

The 14th All Japan Seniors (over 50) Football Tournament

Date: 27-29 June, 2015
Venues: Fujieda Sports Complex Park, Fujieda Shimin Ground Soccer Stadium, Chugai Pharmy Manufacturing Company Limited Fujieda Ground (Fujioka city, Shizuoka)
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