The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League EAST got underway on Saturday 9 April and had five matches during the weekend in Tokyo.

Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba), who claimed EAST’s fourth place in 2014 and 2015, faced Albirex Niigata U-18 (Niigata). Although both sides kicked off carefully, Ichiritsu Funabashi gradually started to dominate the match with free-flowing football. In the 33rd minute, NOMOTO Kota broke through the left flank and cut inside for a shot. He brought his team an opening goal before scoring one more three minutes later. In the 45th minute just before entering the half-time, SUGIYAMA Danto directly netted a free kick to put his side into a three-goal lead. By halting Niigata's come-back effort with solid defence and adding one more goal in the second half, the Chiba side grabbed a 4-0 win in their opening match of the season.

The contest between F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) and Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka) was held in a windy condition as the windward Shimizu controlled the match in the first half. Shimizu came close to their opponents’ goal with set-pieces and took eight shots, but failed to score against F.C. Tokyo's tenacious defence. 

Meanwhile, due to the fact that the match was their first in the season, F.C. Tokyo were dormant and struggled to pick up the pace before finishing the first half. It was a set-piece that decided the outcome of the match. In the 86th minute, Shimizu substitute SUZUKI Kaito scored when TATSUTA Yugo sent in the ball from HIRAMATSU Sho's corner kick. Shimizu edged the close contest 1-0.

Three matches took place on Sunday 10 April. Defending champions Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) took on Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama). While Kashima coach KUMAGAI Koji said, "a lot of players came in compared to last year and we had a bit of concern," the Ibaraki side scored effectively from the start. IMURA Ryosuke met ARAKAWA Kotaro's free kick in the 6th minute and SUDO Tsubasa volleyed home for an additional goal two minutes later. Kashima grabbed two goals with two shots. Then, they showed solid defence that reminds us of last year's team. "There is no problem as long as we don't get beaten on 1-on-1," said Imura. Kashima clinched a win, allowing only three shots to Omiya.

Last year's EAST runners-up Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) played against the same high school federation fellows Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba). Against Aomori Yamada moving the ball to look for chances, Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa tried to hit on the break. The deadlock was broken in the 16th minute. After Aomori Yamada's SAGA Riku won the ball in the opponents' end, he provided it to NARUMI Akito upfront, who then composedly found the back of the net despite being closed down by a defender. With the opener enabling the Aomori side to play easier, they grabbed a 3-0 clean-sheet win with two second-half goals added. As giving up only one shot to the opponents, the match saw Aomori Yamada being productive on both ends of the pitch.

The matchup between 2014 champions Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) and Yokohama F・Marinos Youth (Kanagawa) was a close match where no one could predict the winner until the end. Yokohama opened the scoring with USUBA Hayato's penalty shoot-out in the 42nd minute. Yokohama's high-skilled attacking force dominated the opponents all the time but were unable to add a goal against Kashiwa goalkeeper SARUTA Haruki who showed a string of fine saves. 

Kashiwa on the other hand became more and more down the road by keeping limiting the opponents to just one goal, trying to rally back with substitutes in the second half. In the 84th minute, NAKAMURA Riku met substitute NAKAMURA Shunta's pass for an equaliser. The match ended in 1-1, but Kashiwa certainly entertained the fans in attendance with their brave attacks toward goal.

Comments

KUMAGAI Koji, Coach (Kashima Antlers Youth)
This year's team are not as good as the one from last year in overall quality. I thought it's going to be really tough against big team Omiya to be honest, so I'm glad to win anyway. It was big we converted a single chance early in the match while battling for the initiative. There are still a lot to work on in terms of how to control the game after taking a lead. But we didn't give up any goal-scoring opportunity and kept concentration until the end. I'm sure it leads to the next match.

IMURA Ryosuke (Kashima Antlers Youth)
To play today's match, we kept it in mind that we are not the champions but challengers. We kept ourselves grounded so that could get results. (Talking about the goal) It was the first set-play and I tried to go for goal without thinking too much. I'm simply happy it turned out to be the goal. We were able to end the match in a clean sheet against the strong Omiya side. It gives us confidence.

TAKAHASHI Issei (Aomori Yamada High School)
Because it was an opening match, we were a bit slow, but I'm glad to win. When I scored the second goal, the match was being close. I was keen to score like, "If I can get a goal at this point, I can be a hero." I'm responsible for the performance of this team as I was given the No.10 this year. I don't have firepower the past No.10s had, but I want to contribute to team's win by running harder than anyone does. We can’t play football without each one of playing for the team, so I will do my best for the team.

NAGAI Shunta, Coach (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
The players were sluggish because of nervousness early in the match. It may be because they felt the opponents were better than expected. Even so, I called out to them at halt-time like "let's play as we usually do." And they lived up to my expectations. We moved the ball around and got more confidence in stages. It led to the draw. In the closing minutes of the match, we got more attacks that we finished with a shot. And after playing it out, we were filled with a sense of fulfilment after the match.

SUZUKI Jun, Regional Youth Assistant Director  (Prince Takamado Trophy Premier League 2016 Technical Study Group)
Because there was unique atmosphere the opening matches have and the teams haven't yet completed building themselves up at this stage in spring, most teams played carefully. The level of players is high, so I hope they play aggressively. I want them to realise they are the age group who leads the major part in the Tokyo Olympics.

Match Results

4/9 (Sat.)
Ichiritsu Funabashi High School   4-0 (3-0, 1-0)   Albirex Niigata U-18
F.C. Tokyo U-18   0-1 (0-0, 0-1)   Shimizu S-pulse Youth

4/10 (Sun.)
Omiya Ardija Youth   0-2 (0-2, 0-0)   Kashima Antlers Youth
Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School   0-3 (0-1, 0-2)   Aomori Yamada High School
Kashiwa Reysol U-18   1-1 (0-1, 1-0)   Yokohama F・Marinos Youth

Full match video is here. (Japanese version only)

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