The semi-finals and the final of the 14th All Japan Seniors (over 50s) Football Tournament were held on Monday 29 June.

Both of the semi-finals were very thrilling games. The match between FC Maehashi 50 (Kanto 2/Gunma) and Hyogo Senior (Kansai/Hyogo) stayed at 0-0 and went to penalties. The goalkeeper MACHIDA Takayuki superbly saved three penalties, bringing victory to Maebashi.

Koga Sonen Soccer Aikokai (Lazos Koga F.C., Kanto 3/Ibaraki) turned the game around against Yamanashi Master’s Legend (Kanto 1/Yamanashi). Two teams from Kanto will meet in the final.

Semi-Final
FC Maehashi 50   0-0 PK:3-2   Hyogo Prefecture Senior 50 Selection
Yamanashi Masters Legend   1-2   Koga Sonen Soccer Aikokai (Lazos Koga F.C.)

Both Maebashi and Koga were playing in the final to win the championship for the first time. Maebashi took the initiative at the beginning. The players initiated an attack around OTSUKA Tatsuo, with ZENNYOJI Jun up front, who got through the Koga defensive line.

Koga, on the other hand, defended through the early part of the game against Maebashi, and then gradually started their attack. After 10 minutes, NARITA Junichi, who received a loose ball from the right corner kick, took an excellent shot, striking the opener. 

Shortly after that, TAKEMURA Yasushi faced the goalkeeper one-on-one and got through to the goal, building a two-goal lead.

As IWANAGA Hiroshi, the head coach, noted: ”we felt relaxed after striking two goals”, Koga continued to attack in the second half. In the 27th minute, Takemura struck a goal for the second time from the combination mistake between Maebashi’s defender and goalkeeper. Then after 30 minutes, Takemura, who reacted to a cross from the left side, scored his hat trick with a diving header.

Koga continued to take advantage of their goal-scoring opportunities, building a four-goal lead. Although Maebashi attacked back, the Koga defensive line stayed vocal and concentrated until the final whistle. The match ended 4-0. Koga won the championship for the first time.

Final
FC Maehashi 50   0-4   Koga Sonen Soccer Aikokai (Lazos Koga F.C.)

Head Coach and Players' Comments

IWANAGA Hiroshi, Head Coach (Koga Sonen Soccer Aikokai/Lazos Koga F.C)
Winning tough matches in the first and the final rounds lead us to something good. As we never gave up in all the matches until the final, we could win the championship. I was really impressed with the players’ movement towards the end of the game, and felt their spirit to win. 

We’ve been practicing hard every weekend from New Year’s Day to the end of the year, including the Golden Week holidays. I’m very proud that our team is the best in Japan, playing together just like our team name – “Lazos”.

TAKEMURA Yasushi (Koga Sonen Soccer Aikokai/Lazos Koga F.C)
I’m over the moon that I scored a hat trick, in addition to getting through to the final. I　think I carried out my responsibility as a forward. As we’ve been focusing on training our basic physical fitness, we could show our vitality as a team towards the end of the game. 

We have a practice session every weekend. The reason I continue playing football is that when you achieve a good result, you feel really good. However old you are – 40 years old or 50 years old – you can learn something new, which is one of the most attractive things about football.

ZENNYOJI Jun (FC Maehashi 50) 
I’m pleased that we played in all five matches, because we’ve been aiming to become the best in the country. We were determined to win the championship, and that spirit lead us to book a place in the final. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win in the end, though. I think playing many practice matches since January in preparation for this championship brought us a good result. 

You need to cooperate with your teammates in football to achieve good results. Because it’s very difficult, we can share even bigger pleasure when we do achieve something. I’d like to continue practicing as an individual as well as with my teammates from now on.

SHIOTA Yoshimaru (Hyogo Senior 50 Squad)
It was a shame we had to leave the championship, even though we hadn’t conceded a goal during the game. We couldn’t play our style and tended to give long passes, as we felt nervous. The reason we lost is that we couldn’t decide the match in 40 minutes (20-minute halves), and the game had to go to penalties. 

Although we did have several goal-scoring opportunities, we couldn’t play calmly to finish our shots. Having said that I’d like to point out that we got through the first round with a clean sheet. I do enjoy playing in a national-level championship. I even started to like practicing, despite the fact that I used to hate it when I was young! I’d like to train myself harder to come back to this championship next year.

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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