International Friendly Match  vs  U-22 Yemen National Team
2015-12-10 (Thu.) - 16:30　Playing Time: 90min (45min.×2)
Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium (Doha/Qatar)

U-22 Japan National Team　0-0 (0-0, 0-0)　 U-22 Yemen National Team

Line-ups
GK: KUSHIBIKI Masatoshi
DF: YAMANAKA Ryosuke, NARA Tatsuki, IWANAMI Takuya, MUROYA Sei
MF: AKINO Hiroki, HARAKAWA Riki, YAJIMA Shinya, MAEDA Naoki
FW: ARANO Takuma, KAMADA Daichi

Substitutes
GK: SUGIMOTO Daichi, NAKAMURA Kosuke
DF: MATSUBARA Ken, KAMEKAWA Masashi, NISHINO Takaharu, UEDA Naomichi, NAKATANI Shinnosuke
MF: NAKAJIMA Shoya, SEKINE Takahiro, IDEGUCHI Yosuke, OHSHIMA Ryota
FW: SUZUKI Musashi, KANAMORI Takeshi, ONAIWU Ado

HT　YAJIMA Shinya → NAKAJIMA Shoya
HT　IWANAMI Takuya → NISHINO Takaharu
HT　KUSHIBIKI Masatoshi → SUGIMOTO Daichi
HT　MAEDA Naoki → SEKINE Takahiro
HT　HARAKAWA Riki → IDEGUCHI Yosuke
HT　ARANO Takuma → ONAIWU Ado
HT　KAMADA Daichi → KANAMORI Takeshi
60'　YAMANAKA Ryosuke → OHSHIMA Ryota
70'　NARA Tatsuki → UEDA Naomichi
70'　MUROYA Sei → NAKATANI Shinnosuke
75'　AKINO Hiroki → MATSUBARA Ken

Match Report

U-22 Japan National Team had a friendly against U-22 Yemen National Team on 10 December. Japan has been in a team building-up process for the AFC U-23 Championship next year. This competition is also the Rio de Janeiro Olympics Asian Qualifiers Final. This match was held at the same venue as the third match of Qualifiers Final Group Stage against Saudi Arabia, and it kicked off at 4:30 pm.

U-22 Japan National Team employed a 4-2-3-1 formation and took control from the beginning. In the 12th minute, forward KAMADA Daichi made a shot but the ball went just in front of the opponent’s goalkeeper. In the 15th minute, Japan’s quick and advantageous combination play made by midfielder HARAKAWA Riki, forward ARANO Takuma, and midfielder YAJIMA Shinya approached the goal but the last pass to Kamada was offside.

Japan kept attacking Yemen aiming at blind spots and making middle shots, but they couldn’t score due to the lack of accuracy in the decisive moments. In the 44th minute, Kamada’s shot was blocked by the goalkeeper again and the first half ended 0-0.

Japan substituted 7 players at the beginning of the second half. On the 59th minute, forward ONAIWU Ado hit a middle shot, and on 68th minute defender MUROYA Sei headed a centering pass to the goal, but both shots couldn’t find the net. Japan kept pressuring Yemen by substituting more players on 65th, 70th, and 75th minutes, but the match didn’t move at all and ended 0-0. The players silently went back to the locker room with sense of frustration.

It was a good experience for the team to have the match at the same venue against the team who will also play in the Qualifiers Final; it helped them to simulate the future match. Japan will move to UAE on 11 December and they will have another match against the U-22 Uzbekistan National Team. They will improve the issues found today and expect a better result in the next match.

Coach and Players' Comments

TEGURAMORI Makoto, Coach (U-22 Japan National Team)
Today what we did were the combination plays which couldn’t steal the opponents’ vision. In the moments we could move the ball quickly, distances between our players were too narrow and when we kicked long balls the surrounding players could have pulled defence so that the kicker could have passed the ball more effectively, but they couldn’t make this happen. If we play in a narrow area, then opponents can find it easier to reach us. We were just trapped in the decisive moments.

I believe that the players had things to learn by playing against a Middle Eastern team in this camp. The players look very frustrated by the fact that they drew the match and that can be meaningful for them. We drew the match means we didn’t lose it, but we should have won today. The next match against Uzbekistan is the one we have to win.

Amin ALSUNINI, Coach (U-22 Yemen National Team)
We were happy to play against Japan, one of the strongest countries in Asia. It was our first match of the 5 training matches to prepare for the Qualifiers Final. Japan was quick and their pressing play was intense, but I am satisfied with our players since they played evenly against them.

DF  MATSUBARA Ken (Albirex Niigata)
Today everybody seemed to be in trouble with the pitch condition. Our issue is improving accuracy when we have only a few chances during the match. We want to improve it during the month before the competition. I was happy to play with my teammates after a long time, but I had only 15 minutes to play. I have to get my level recovered enough to be able to play for 90 minutes.

DF  UEDA Naomichi (Kashima Antlers)
We have been in the situation that we are building up the team for the Qualifiers Final, and we only drew the match 0-0. I felt we should never repeat this type of play again. In defence, we should have taken more risks considering the level of the opponent team. However, it was good for us to experience the match at the same venue of the one against Saudi Arabia for the Qualifiers Final. We could check the pitch condition.

MF  AKINO Hiroki (Kashiwa Reysol)
Today we tended to make more mistakes. I assume it was because of different environment such as the pitch and the ball, but this can be applied to our opponent; we shouldn’t make any excuses for our result. As a team we have to reduce mistakes and at the same time to be more ambitious to challenge. We also strengthen ourselves to finish the match with a victory.

FW  ONAIWU Ado (JEF United Chiba)
I came on to the pitch from the second half. I could join the match smoothly since I am substituted a lot in my local club. As a team, we couldn’t move the ball around well with good speed. Including myself, we had several chances and if we could score at those moments, I believe that we can win even with challenging situations. As an individual player, I understand more about the team’s tactics and I can move more actively to get the ball. Since I have gained in my understanding about how the team moves the ball and I can join their pass work with good timing so now I want to contribute to the team by scoring.

Schedule