2015 "Changan Ford Cup" CFA International Youth Football Tournament Qingdao
1st Match  vs  U-18 Syria National Team
2015-9-7 (Wed.) - 16:00   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2) 
Qingdao Guoxin Stadium (Qingdao, China)

U-18 Japan National Team   4-0 (1-0, 3-0)   U-18 Syria National Team

Scores
30'   OGAWA Koki (U-18 Japan National Team)
55'   OGAWA Koki (U-18 Japan National Team)
71'   OGAWA Koki (U-18 Japan National Team)
81'   IWASAKI Yuto (U-18 Japan National Team)

Line-ups
GK: KOJIMA Ryosuke
DF: FUJITANI So, NODA Hiroki, MACHIDA Koki, FUNAKI Kakeru
MF: DOAN Ritsu, SAKAI Daisuke, SASAKI Takumi, NAGANUMA Yoichi
FW: YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa, OGAWA Koki

Substitutes
GK: WAKINO Atsushi
DF: IWATA Tomoki, OKANO Jun, TOMIYASU Takehiro, URATA Itsuki
MF: MIYOSHI Koji, SUZUKI Tokuma, MORISHIMA Tsukasa, TAKAGI Akito
FW: ICHIMI Kazunari, IWASAKI Yuto 

73'   YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa → IWASAKI Yuto 
78'   DOAN Ritsu → MIYOSHI Koji
85'   OGAWA Koki → ICHIMI Kazunari

Match Report

The first opponents were U-18 Syria National Team.

Early in the match, Japanese players had their feet caught in the turf whose grasses were longer than those in Japan and committed passing errors to allow the opponents scoring opportunities. 

After a while, however, they gradually started adjusting to the unfavourable environment, cut down mistakes and played their brand of football. In the 30th minute, the ball went from FUJITANI So to DOAN Ritsu and to SASAKI Takumi in their effort to break down the right flank, and Sasaki fed a low cross ball into the box. OGAWA Koki rushed in to meet it with his right foot to open the scoring. The first half finished with Japan leading 1-0.

Japan did not let their attacking slow down in the second half as well and kept threatening the Syria goal. After Japan robbed the ball in Syria’s end in the 55th minute, FUNAKI Kakeru received it on the left flank and sent it into the middle. Ogawa this time headed it forcefully into the back of the net to widen the lead to two goals.

In the 71st minute, Japan again broke through the left flank this time with NAGANUMA Yoichi’s dribble. His high cross was deflected by the goalkeeper once, but the second ball was quickly picked up by Ogawa, who converted the opportunity into his hat trick of the match. 

Then the fourth goal for Japan was scored in the 81st minute. Subbed-in IWASAKI Yuto met an accurate through ball from Sasaki to attack the space behind the opposing defenders. Iwasaki composedly took the ball and struck it into the goal to cement the victory. The match ended after that, as the win in the important first match proved the effectiveness of the training Japan had put into to break through flanks to score goals. 

Players' Comments

FUJITANI So (Vissel Kobe U-18)
First, it was good to win this first match against Syria. This trip is a good simulation for the qualifiers in October. In the qualifiers, the first match is very important, so this win can give us a good direction for us to take. We still have two more matches left, so we will do the best preparation possible and try to win those matches. 

NAGANUMA Yoichi (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
This tournament schedule has three matches with only one day in between, just like the qualifiers in October. So we thought the first match would be very important and winning the first one would give us good momentum as we move on to the second and third. It was good that the team were able to play all together and win. We will make sure to win the rest of the two matches and finish up a good simulation for the qualifiers.

OGAWA Koki (Toko Gakuen High School)
In the end, we scored four goals and held the opponents scoreless, so it was very good. Looking at the details, there were still many mistakes and our collectiveness needs improvement. So we want to communicate with each other better and achieve both good details and good results. I personally had good results, which was good, but I will demand more vocally and improve our combination to put up better results. 

SASAKI Takumi (Vegalta Sendai Youth)
We allowed no goals and scored goals for our own. We were able to leave a good result. Even after our lead got bigger, our match management got even better and we all stayed focused and kept running and battling until the end. We are treating this trip as a simulation for the qualifiers in October, so I will make sure to get ready for next match to put up good results in all three matches. 

Schedule