Pick-up Match
Omiya Ardija Youth vs Yokohama F・Marinos Youth

In the 6th Sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League EAST, which will be played on 25 and 26 June, Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama) and Yokohama F・Marinos Youth (Kanagawa) will play against each other on the 26th.

Host Omiya took three consecutive losses from the opening of the season and have stuck in the ninth place in the standings, yet have played better as they have been unbeaten in their last two games. They players had a meeting before their fourth game against Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba). They exchanged opinions and got on the same page in the end, and it paid off for them to post their first win of the year against Ryutsukeizaidai.

During the layoff period of the league, Omiya regrouped with their defence, which had given up 12 goals in five games. “Not just defending in spaces, you have got to check and go try to get the ball. When you try to get the ball up front, or when you defend with more men, you have got to become one chunk with the entire team. Those are the things we have paid attention to,” Coach OTSUKA Shinji said. If Omiya adds solid defence to their offence, which is their strength, they could make a leap.

Yokohama F・Marinos, who were promoted to the Premier League this year, have posted a 1-2-2 record for the seventh place so far. They have put up competitive battles against the top teams and have been one of the most notable teams.

Like Omiya, Yokohama worked on their defence during the layoff period. They had kept giving up goals within the first 10 minutes of their games between the third and fifth Sec., so they paid attention to that. They gave up no goals for four consecutive games and allowed one goal in five games they played in the knockout tournament of the 40th Japan club youth football championship (U-18), which was played during the layoff period.

“We’ve practiced on scoring, not just picking up speed and passing the ball,” Yokohama coach MATSUHASHI Rikizo said of their offence. “This is where we make sure about what we’ve done during the layoff period.”

Coaches' Comments

OTUKA Shinji, Coach (Omiya Ardija Youth)
I consider the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League is the most important league for the high school generation. During the non-game period, we reshuffled in our offence and defence to prepare for the sixth Sec. I think we are going to get in the Yokohama game in good shape. Our players have begun noticing that they cannot win games when they are doing things they would like to do. Their attitude in their daily practices and life are great, so if they keep it up, I believe they will come up with a result they want. One of our goals for the second cool will be to get closer to the top teams. We would like to look only at the teams above us.

MATSUHASHI Rikizo, Coach (Yokohama F・Marinos Youth)
We could advance to the final in the Kanto tournament of the Japan club youth championship (U-18), which just wrapped up. This is a result of what we’d worked on our offensive issues during our practices, and in terms of whether we will capitalize on it in the Premier League or not, it will be a very important game for us against Omiya. Since the beginning of the spring, we’ve used first-year and second-year students as well, and it’s led to give us more depth overall. We would like to keep spotting our own issues through tough games, and make it to be the fuel for our development going forward. When our individual players’ development lead to the development of our entire team, we are going to play how we would like to play and become units that can genuinely compete in the Premier League.

Omiya Ardija Youth vs Yokohama F・Marinos Youth
Date: Sun. 26 June　kick-off 15:00
Venue: NACK 5 Stadium
Access: 20 minutes walk from JR Omiya Station east exit. 10 minutes from the station by taxi
1 minute walk from Omiya football stadium stop of Kokusai Kogyo Bus that depart from JR Omiya Station east exit
10 minutes’ walk from Omiya park station and Kita Omiya station of Tobu Noda Line

Premier League EAST Match Day 6

6/25
15:00　Albirex Niigata U-18 vs Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Denka Big Swan Stadium)

6/26
11:00　Aomori Yamada High School vs F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Aomori Yamada High School)
11:00　Kashima Antlers Youth vs Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Kashima Stadium)
11:00　Shimizu S-pulse Youth vs Ichiritsu Funabashi High School（Shimizu National Training Centre/J-STEP）

Albirex Niigata U-18 (Niigata), who have firmly amassed points as they’ve gone one win and three draws since the second Sec., will host Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba). The third-place Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) will take on the league-leading F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo). Ryutsukeizaidai will look for their first win of the season against Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki). A contest between the fourth-place Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka) and the current runner-up Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) is another intriguing matchup.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

Match Day 5 Digest

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