Pick-up Match

F.C. Tokyo U-18　3-0 (1-0, 2-0)　Kashima Antlers Youth

The fifth round of the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League EAST were played on 7 and 8 May. F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) hosted Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) at Tokyo Gas Musashino ground (artificial turf).

The two teams played a see-saw game from early as Kashima had fast vertical attacks while F.C. Tokyo laid a collective defence. Yet in the 40th minute, Tokyo’s UCHIDA Takuya, who received a pass from OIJI Yoshiatsu, dribbled up on the left side and kicked a cross into the middle. A Kashima defender mishandled it and F.C. Tokyo had a lead on an own goal.

“Our stiffness got away with the first goal.” As Oiji put it later, F.C. Tokyo played on their own pace in the second half. ITO Junya and MATSUOKA Rimu threatened the Kashima goalmouth in the 59th and 60th minutes, respectively, and they gradually attacked more. In the 61st minute, OKANIWA Shuto reacted to a pass that was sharply sent before the Kashima goalmouth and put it into the net to give Tokyo a 2-0 lead.

Trailing by two, Kashima began their rally. They earned a free kick in the 64th, and NAKAMURA Yuta, who reacted to a kick of ARAKAWA Kotaro, headed it. It was cleared by Tokyo’s SUZUKI Yoshitake, but he showed his desire for a goal.

Wanting to recapture the momentum, F.C. Tokyo sent on KUBO Takefusa for Matsuoka in the 76th minute. In the 80th, following his dribbling, Kubo netted a strong shot to give the team a 3-0 lead. Tokyo went on to post a 3-0 win, retaining the top spot in the standings with a four-game winning streak.

“We have players who play both in the Meiji Yasuda J3 League (as members of F.C. Tokyo U-23 team) and in U-18 contests,” F.C. Tokyo coach SATO Kazuki said. “Those who have played in J3 can give the U-18 team some experience. When the U-18 players are with the U-23 team, we can use new players at the U-18 team.” Sato indicated that his team can have positive rotations by playing both in J3 and Premier League and it’s led to the four-game winning streak.

Meanwhile, Kashima have gone 1-2-2 in their last five games. As their core players had graduated after last year, their coach KUMAGAI Koji said, “we thought maybe we could get off to five-game losing skid.” But the team have kept playing hard around NISHIMOTO Takanobu and MATSUURA Koyo, both of who competed last year. They are expected to put up better performance in the latter second period.

Coach and Players' Comments

SATO Kazuki, Coach (F.C. Tokyo U-18)
We were overwhelmed by Kashima’s pressure and weren’t able to get our rhythm. But we eventually got used to their intensity and played our own game. Since we lost to Shimizu in the season-opening game, we’ve played one game at a time and I think it’s led to positive outcomes for us. But we don’t think about where we are in the standings too much. Yet looking back the first half of the season, I think the loss to Shimizu was big as it gave us the reason we had to fight.

OIJI Yoshiatsu (F.C. Tokyo U-18)
We were a little stiff in the first half, but we still managed to score and it gave us some composure. Individually, I don’t think I did any job today. I wanted to get involved in scoring plays more, but I lacked the quality of my passing and shots in the box as well as my active attitude to attack. I would like to pay attention more to go forward, going forward.

HIRAKAWA Rei (F.C. Tokyo U-18)
Since I’ve become a high school student, I’ve been aware more of playing defence. It’s become natural for me to play physically with the opponents and work hard. I want to play with the mind-set that I’m a core player and I want to actively attack with my dribbling. Playing having a better balance between offence and defence, I would like to put up my own strengths.

KUMAGAI Koji, Coach (Kashima Antlers Youth)
We couldn’t accumulate points and it’s putting us in a difficult situation. We give the third-grade players a lot of requirements, but they still do their best, so I think we’ve got to raise our team base. Some might say we have gotten off to a slow start, but this is what we’d expected. Actually we think we’ve earned more points that we’d thought. But by having earned some points, we have played with vague mind-set, thinking whether we can play or we cannot play, in the last few games. That’s what we have to reflect on going forward.

MATSUURA Koyo (Kashima Antlers Youth)
I think that we will have to do what we are supposed to do, things our base, such as running, communicating out loud, and not getting beaten in 1-on-1 battles. This year’s team often gears up after they allow their opponents to score first or give them marginal lead. In my being the captain, I need to talk to our teammates louder and get us all on the same page. Otherwise, this situation is not going to change.

Other Matches

Aomori Yamada High School　3-0(0-0, 3-0)　Shimizu S-pulse Youth
Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School　2-3 (2-1, 0-2)　Yokohama F・Marinos Youth
Ichiritsu Funabashi High School　3-2 (1-0, 2-2)　Kashiwa Reysol U-18
Albirex Niigata U-18　2-2 (1-1, 1-1)　Omiya Ardija Youth

TAKAHASHI Issei struck first and Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) cruised past Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka), who had been undefeated, 3-0. Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa High School (Chiba) had a lead in the first half but Yokohama F. Marinos Youth (Kanagawa) rallied back to post a win. Ryutsukeizaidai ended the first period losing all the five contests they played.

Ichiritsu Funabashi High School, who are the only team with an unbeaten record in EAST, edged Kashiwa Reysol U-18 3-2 in an all Chiba match, retaining the runner-up spot. Albirex Niigata U-18 (Niigata) and Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama) ended in a draw, sharing one point apiece.

More information