The 20th All Japan Youth (U-18) Women's Football Tournament, one of the competitions of the JOC Junior Olympic Cup endorsed by the Olympics Committee of Japan, had its final and third-place match on Saturday 7 January at J-GREEN Sakai in Osaka as Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls (Kansai 1/ Osaka) claimed their back-to-back titles.

Third-place Match

JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18（Kanto3／Chiba）3-2（1-2, 2-0）Sfida Setagaya FC Youth（Kanto2／Tokyo）

In the third-place match held before the final, JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18 and Sfida Setagaya FC Youth squared off against each other. While Sfida created several chances from set-pieces early on, JEF opened the scoring in the 21st minute with IMAMURA Mizuki's controlled shot when Sfida goalkeeper raced out of her goal. With coach KAWABE Kenichi's words, "we are going to catch up in the first half", Sfida got back on level terms with KASHIWABARA Miu's goal from a set-piece in the 31st minute. And in the 43rd minute, Sian BROUGH netted home to give her side a 2-1 lead.

But the match did not come to an end with this goal. JEF launched relentless attacks with a goal down with 10 minutes remaining. The Chiba side levelled matters at 2-2 in the 82nd minute with captain MOTOZONO Kana's spot kick earned inside Sfida's penalty area. Three minutes later, JEF's KAI Marin scored a dramatic go-ahead goal, giving her team the 3-2 victory.

Match Summary (Japanese version only)

Final

Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls (Kansai1/ Osaka) 4-0（2-0, 2-0）Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth（Kanto4／Saitama）

In the final between defending champions Cerezo Osaka and last year's third-placed Urawa Red Diamonds, the former showed aggressive attacking moves early on. On the other hand, Urawa also fended off the opposing pressure and came close to the opponents’ goal with side attacks. The first goal came in the 23rd minute when Cerezo's NOJIMA Sakura netted a rebound from HAYASHI Honoka's free kick to make it 1-0. Cerezo picked up their momentum with the opening goal. TAKARADA Saori won an aerial battle off a right corner, heading home to put her side further ahead in the 30th minute. Cerezo continued to send the ball forward with dynamic moves against Urawa, who were desperate to defend. The first half finished with Cerezo's two-goal advantage.

Although coach SHIMOYAMA Kaoru attempted to re-motivate his players before the second half, saying "let’s score a goal back early", Urawa allowed another goal in the 47th minute when Cerezo’s Nojima scored her second goal of the day for a three-goal lead. Urawa placed defensive midfielder NAGANO Fuka at a higher position and looked for a chance to come back. With TAKAHASHI Minori coming off the bench in the 67th minute, Urawa tried to activate their attack but struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities against the solid Cerezo defence. Meanwhile, midway through the second half, Cerezo changed their tactics focusing their efforts on defending solidly and scoring off counter-attacks while putting an emphasis on finishing off their attacking plays with a shot. In the 86th minute, Takarada put home the fourth goal to ensure Cerezo's back-to-back All Japan crowns with the 4-0 win.

Match Summary (Japanese version only)

Coaches' and Players' Comments

TAKEHANA Tomoya, Coach (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls)
My players have worked hard to win back-to-back titles. We played our best game in the final and achieved our goal. I want to congratulate them. A goalkeeper got injured in the semi-final, and we teamed up again: "We are going to win the championship for her sake." We tried out a variety of offensive patterns like breaking through the centre, attacking from the flanks and finding space behind defenders. And we created a lot of great opportunities. My players grew through this tournament. Furthermore, we were able to strengthen the team as well with junior high students gaining experience for future competitions.
 
HAYASHI Honoka (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls)
Our goal was to win back-to-back titles, so I was happy when we scored. In the final, we didn't want to lose in terms of the fighting spirit, and it was our last match with this team. So we were focused from the beginning of the match. Being the captain put pressure on myself, and I couldn't play well at times. But that's something that I wouldn't have experienced if I hadn’t taken up the captain role. It was good as I gained one of the precious experiences as a footballer. In the final, I think I was able to bring out what I've got.

SHIMOYAMA Kaoru, Coach (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth)
We wanted to start aggressively basing our tactics on solid defence but had trouble adjusting to opponents' pressure. And our defence tried to cope with them too late. I told my players at halftime to focus more on offence to get a goal early because we were two goals down. My players worked hard but lost in battles on the ball and hard-running efforts. So we should have played more aggressively. It's great to go up against formidable opponents with a challenger's spirit and end up reaching the final.

SUZUKI Sawako (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth)
We were prepared against opponents' set-pieces, so we wanted to actually stop them. I'm good at one-on-one situations, so I was confident to deny close range shots. But the fact that the number of goals I gave up is more than the goals I denied means I'm not good enough. Cerezo Osaka have got physical intensity and played at a high level as they play in the Nadeshiko League's second division. It's good to play it out until the last minute of the match against such opponents. And reaching the final with clean sheets is a very valuable thing for myself and for the team.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

Final: Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls VS Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth

Third-place Match: JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-18 VS Sfida Setagaya FC Youth

JOC Junior Olympic Cup The 20th All Japan Youth Women's Football Tournament

3 Jaunuary 2017 (Tue.) ～ 7 January 2017 (Sat.)
J-GREEN Sakai（Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture）
Tournament Information