EAFF U15 Boys' Tournament 2018 2nd Match vs U-15 Chinese Taipei
Wed. 25 July 2018 Kick-off 13:30 (Local time) Match duration 80mins (40mins x2)
National Football Training Center (Xianghe, China PR)

U-15 Japan National Team 6-0 (4-0, 2-0) U-15 Chinese Taipei National Team

Scores
7' IGAMI Arya (U-15 Japan National Team)
18' NOZAWA Leon (U-15 Japan National Team)
25' KIKUCHI Shuta (U-15 Japan National Team)
35' KATO Tsubasa (U-15 Japan National Team)
61' NOZAWA Leon (U-15 Japan National Team)
80+1' KAWANO Kota (U-15 Japan National Team)

Starting Line-ups
GK: TANAKA Haruki
DF: MORITA Sho, KIKUCHI Shuta, ICHIHARA Miran, MATSUKI Kuryu
MF: KATO Tsubasa, KAJIURA Yuki, TOYAMA Haruki, SATO Yosei
FW: IGAMI Arya, NOZAWA Leon

Reserves
GK: KANOSHIMA Yu
DF: OSAKO Aoto, TANAKA Hayato, SUWAMA Kosei
MF: TAKAYANAGI Eijiro, HONDA Manato, YAMANE Riku 
FW: KAWANO Kota, KATSUSHIMA Shinnosuke

Substitutions
HT TANAKA Haruki → KANOSHIMA Yu
HT TOYAMA Haruki → TAKAYANAGI Eijiro
HT KIKUCHI Shuta → OSAKO Aoto
53' KAJIURA Yuki → HONDA Manato
53' SATO Yosei → KAWANO Kota
60' IGAMI Arya → YAMANE Riku
60' KATO Tsubasa → SUWAMA Kosei
60' ICHIHARA Miran → TANAKA Hayato
62' NOZAWA Leon → KATSUSHIMA Shinnosuke

Match Report

The second Group A match of the EAFF U15 Boys' Tournament 2018 was originally scheduled to take place on Tuesday 24 July but was postponed to Wednesday 25 due to heavy rain. Ahead of their second match against Chinese Taipei, the Japanese side made nine changes to their starting line-up since their first match against China PR.

Japan opened the scoring with IGAMI Arya's shot from the outside of the box in the seventh minute. The Japanese side did not ease their attack and never stopped threatening the opposing goal. In the 17th minute, SATO Yosei drove in from the left flank and fired a right-footed shot only to see it bounce off the crossbar. Soon afterwards, NOZAWA Leon ran onto a through ball delivered from Sato and calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the goal to double their lead. Japan was on board again in the 25th minute when KIKUCHI Shuta converted the loose ball off a goalmouth scramble following a corner kick. KATO Tsubasa launched a powerful shot from distance to capture the fourth goal in the 35th minute. Japan cruised through the first half, as they entered halftime with a score of 4-0.

Replacing three players at halftime, Japan continued to keep their pace and dominated the ball possession. In the 61st minute, Nozawa netted his second goal of the day by converting an exquisite through ball delivered from YAMANE Riku. KAWANO Kota, who scored in the first match, added one more goal in additional time to cap off the match, as Japan recorded their second win in a dominating fashion.

Players' Comments

GK #12 TANAKA Haruki (MIRUMAE・FC・U-15)
It's a great opportunity to play against teams with different styles in a different environment. Today in the match against Chinese Taipei, I tried to focus on improving what I lacked in the previous match. In the remaining three matches, I will try to keep improving myself and be aware to “share a mutual decision with my teammates,” which coach MORIYAMA always points out.

MF #6 TAKAYANAGI Eijiro (FC. Fervor Aichi)
Personally, the first match against China PR was a disappointing match because my decision makings during the match was not good. In our match today, I tried to improve that aspect as much as possible. There are many things that we can only experience during this tour, and that is why we need to cooperate as a team to improve each other’s abilities. I will like to learn from my teammates and become able to utilise each player’s strong points as my own.

MF #15 KAJIURA Yuki (FC Tokyo U-15 Fukagawa)
I'm very glad to be called up to the national team for the first time. Although I haven’t played with most of the players, I'm gradually getting to know my teammates and finding out how they like to play. With two matches played in this tournament so far, I strongly feel that I need to improve how to get involved in our attacks and how I time myself to make the runs upfront. In order to improve those points, I need to heighten the quality of my passes as well as my positionings. We still have three more matches ahead of us and I hope we can improve both as a team and as an individual.

FW #17 IGAMI Arya (UE Cornellà)
I'm happy to be selected to U-15 Japan National team for this China PR trip. We have played two matches since arriving to China and playing in a different environment is very stimulating. I scored one goal today, but I'm a bit disappointed because I had many chances to score more goals. I will try to get involved in more goals in our next match. We still have three matches remaining, so I hope we can keep on improving through each match.

Schedule

*Local Time
*All matches will be held at the National Football Training Center (Xianghe)
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

EAFF U15 Boys' Tournament 2018

Tournament Dates: Mon. 23 July - Sat. 28 July 2018
Tournament Venue: National Football Training Center (China PR)
Tournament Information