The 3rd All Japan Youth (U-18) Futsal Tournament which will select the top U-18 futsal team in Japan will kick off on Thursday 4 August. Sixteen teams qualified for this national tournament from all over Japan will come to Sendai and compete for the Final held on Sunday 7 August. This article will review last year’s tournament. 

Last year, a total of 16 teams qualified for the tournament, and they were divided into 4 groups for the first round. The top two teams in each group went through to the final round. 

The eight teams advancing to the final round were: Espaco U-18 (Tokai/ Shizuoka), FC Seiwa Gakuen (Tohoku1/ Miyagi), Teikyo Nagaoka High School (Kitashinetsu/ Nigata), Hokkaido Kushiro Hokuyo (Hokkaido3/ Hokkaido), Sakuyo High School (Chugoku/ Okayama), Kyoto Kumiyama High School (Kansai1/ Kyoto), PSTC Londrina U-18 (Kanto1/ Kanagawa), Sapporo Otani High School (Hokkaido2/ Hokkaido).

Three out of four were very close see-saw matches with only one goal difference; Espaco U-18, Hokkaido Kushiro Hokuyo, Sakuyo High School, and PSTC Londrina U-18 qualified for the semifinals. 

Both semi-final matches kicked off at the same time. One of them was Espaco U-18 vs Hokkaido Kushiro Hokuyo at Xebio Arena Sendai. From the beginning Hokuyo’s offense worked effectively and it finished the first half 2-1 in their favour. They continued to add to the scoreline and beat Espaco 5-2. 

The other match between Sakuyo High School and PSTC Londrina U-18 at Sendai Gymnasium was very enticing until the end. Sakuyo took the early initiative with a score of 6-2, but Londrina added more goals and increased the pressure by making it 6-5. However, they failed to equalise and Sakuyo qualified for the final.

The final between Hokkaido Kushiro Hokuyo vs Sakuyo High School was a very close match which typified the competitiveness in the tournament. Right after the kick off, Hokuyo’s MATSUNO Fumiya scored the opening goal, then Sakuyo’s IMAGAWA Tomochika quickly equalised. In the 9th minute, Imagawa scored his second from a corner and the first half ended with Hokuyo’s lead. 

The second half was completely different; both teams played carefully, seeking how they counter against each other’s attack. The game moved in the 36th minute, Hokuyo’s ONISHI Kazuki scored an equaliser to make the score 3-3. The match seemed to be going into extra time. In the 40th minute, Sakuyo’s MANAKA Yuto smashed a dribbling shot into the net. As a result, Sakuyo High School won with the final score of 4-3 and got the title of last year’s tournament. 

Sakuyo High School will play in this year’s tournament as a defending champion. Please check out the fierce and exciting battles among the high school futsal teams.