The Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals 2015, which decides the best club youth team (U-15), had its 2nd day of the Group Stage. The teams had very intense matches for going through to the Knock-out Stage.

Group Stage Day 2

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-15 faced Esbjerg FB (Denmark) and Genoa CFC (Italy) to go through the Group Stage. In the match against Esbjerg FC, Kyoto Sanga allowed a goal which was scored from a loose ball on 8 minutes. For Esbjerg FC, it was the last match of the Group Stage and they were actively pressing their offense. However, Kyoto Sanga built up themselves and TSUNO Ayase equalised the match right after the Esbjerg’s first goal. The match didn’t move after that and it finished 1-1.

At that moment, Kyoto Sanga’s results were one win, one defeat and one draw and the next match against Genoa CFC was important to move on to the next stage. However, Kyoto Sanga allowed the first goal again from their set-play. They tried to score but Genoa was very consistent to get the victory and the match ended 0-1. Kyoto Sanga’s result was 4th place of the Group B with one win, two defeats and one draw; they could not go through to the Knock-out Stage. 

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-15   1-1   Esbjerg FB (Denmark)
Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-15   0-1   Genoa CFC (Italy)

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-15 Coach and Players’ Comments

KISHIMOTO Kosuke, Coach
On Match Day 2 with the result of one win and one defeat, we expected the match against Esbjerg F.C. would be the most difficult one since they hadn’t won any of their 3 previous matches; they could face us with the very strong fighting spirit to get a win.

They were as strong as the other teams in any intensive and competitive moments. I have to say that losing the first goal was caused by our simple mistake. We might have saved the goal if that was in a domestic match, but this time we learned that any easy mistake causes a goal in this type of international match.

In the match against Genoa CFC (Italy), we had such a high motivation to work hard because we knew what we had to do to go through this Group Stage. Genoa players were stronger than the other teams and their pressing play was also consistent, so we couldn’t play as we wanted and in the end they could score from a set-play, it was like they could catch us off guard.

In the 2nd half, we tried to get a goal and moved the ball around to make chances to attack, but we could never score. Our result of the Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals 2015 was one win, two defeats and one draw, but I appreciate the players for doing their best throughout this experience.

At the same time, it was a good lesson for us to see the gap between the world class teams and ourselves. It was good for us to know that there are high level players even in U-15 in Ghana and it was also good to see the Italian team’s strong passion to win the match. As a representative of Japanese teams, we still have a responsibility to make a better result. We will keep working hard, doing everything we can to get a better ranking. 

DF  OKAZAKI Toshiki
In the 1st half of the match against Esbjerg FB (Denmark), we could make press well but we still lost the goal where we didn’t expect to. It was good that we could equalise right after that, but we were so rushing to score additional goals, we could not score in the end. It was such a bitter experience. Esbjerg, unlike Ghata, didn’t have much strength and their speed was quite same as ours, so we might have beaten them if we could be united well like we were in the previous JFA Premier Cup.

Personally I could intercept using all of my body which was good, but there are critical issues that I have to improve such as allowing the opponents to go through from my side, and I could not clear the ball very well. 

FW  TSUNO Ayase
It was good that I could score at the match against Esbjerg, but I wanted to score another goal. Personally, it was good that I could find the good space better than in Match Day 1, but I have to face the issue that I couldn’t defend well. Compared to Brazil and Ghana, Esbjerg was not equally strong in intensive moments. We could have beaten them if we could have maintained our team performance.