Wednesday 25 July saw the quarterfinals of the JFA 23rd U-15 Japan Women's Football Championship take place.

Pick-up Match

Nippon TV Menina Serias 3-0 (2-0, 1-0) Kamimura Gakuen Junior High School Women's Football Club

In the match between Nippon TV Menina Serias (Kanto1/Tokyo) and against Kamimura Gakuen Junior High School Women's Football Club (Kyushu1/Kagoshima), it was Serias who took the initiative of the match, as HORIUCHI Kokoro later mentioned, “I was planning on utilising both the width and the length of the field to stretch the opponents out in order to create opportunities to score the goal.”

The team showcased great ball movements to create spaces in their opponent’s territory. In the seventh minute, FUJINO Aoba took a shot after receiving the ball from KUSABA Rena, but her shot was off target. Serias continued to pass the ball around well and waited for their opportunities, as Horiuchi later noted “It was good that we stayed calm and moved the ball around.” In the 27th minute, KUMAGAI Mibu made a run up the left flank before getting through two defenders and sending the ball towards the goal. KIMURA Sana was there to connect with the ball and struck the opener for Serias. Two minutes into additional time of the first half, Kimura struck her second goal of the match after receiving a through ball delivered from Horiuchi, who later reflected on her assist, “I saw the opponent getting dragged towards the flank and found the space inside, so that’s where I delivered the ball.”

Kamimura Gakuen, on the other hand, were forced to play a tough match as they struggled to take control of the ball. Coach MIYASAKO Fumika reflected with regret, “It took too long for us to make the adjustments against the opponent’s attacks. We were overwhelmed by their techniques and played too passively.” However, the Kamimura side were seen creating more opportunities in the second half. In the 34th minute, AIKAWA Haruna sent the ball from the left flank to the other side, which led the team to earn a freekick. They continued to attack the opposing end as they were seen initiating counter attacks to rally back. However, despite the efforts made by Kamimura Gakuen, it was Serias who scored the next goal as Horiuchi sent a lobbing pass towards the goal, allowing Fujino to apply the final touch. As Coach SAKAGUCHI Keisuke shared his inspiration, “We intended that this was our stage to showcase what we have been working on,” it was Serias who won the match and earned their ticket to the Semi-finals, as they demonstrated their strengths.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

SAKAGUCHI Keisuke, Coach (Nippon TV Menina Serias)
We knew that our opponents would come out playing as hard as possible, so I told the players to watch how the opponents defend before starting our attacks. When the game actually started, we managed to pass the ball around to draw the opponents, who was forming blocks to defend against us. We scored the first two goals just as we planned. Although we have taken the initiative in the matches thus far, I know it won’t be as easy from the semi-finals. From now on, I think it will come down to how tough we can be during the difficult stretches.

MF #10 HORIUCHI Kokoro (Nippon TV Menina Serias)
We played in haste at the beginning of the match. However, we managed to strike the opener by using the flanks well. As for the second goal, we aimed the centre space when the opponents were drawn to the sides. Our patient ball movements brought us this victory. In this tournament, we find it difficult to get through the opponent when they drop deep. We haven’t found our best form yet, so we’d like to build our momentum in the semi-final tomorrow and showcase Serias’ true playing style.

MIYASAKO Fumika, Coach (Kamimura Gakuen Junior High School Women's Football Club)
The players performed well, but they rushed their plays at the beginning of each half while our opponent kept on the ball possession. We wanted to be the aggressor in this match, but our opponents showcased very high skills which forced us to drop back. If we had higher individual skills to force turnovers, we could have stayed more competitive. We have lost in the quarterfinals in the past few years and we were really eager to get through to the semi-finals this year. I’d like the players to accept their defeat and work on our tasks so that we can feed off of this experience to get better results next time.

MF #13 OWAKI Seina (Kamimura Gakuen Junior High School Women's Football Club)
We’ve been preparing for this championship in order to display the Kamimura style, a football style where we outrun our opponents. Although we were planning on playing our game, we struggled to intercept the ball against the opponents who sustained possession well. Even when we managed to force a turnover, they repossessed the ball right away. Playing against a team with a unique approach to the game gives us a great learning experience. From our match today, we learned that we need to improve our skills to intercept the ball and work on our collective approach to force turnovers. Playing in a national tournament like this gives us great experience, and I hope the younger players in our team will perform well next year.

Results of other matches

Hokkaido Lira Consadole (Hokkaido2) 0-2 (0-0, 0-2)Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Avenire (Kanto3/Kanagawa)
Urawa Red Diamonds Junior Youth (Kanto2/Saitama) 4-0 (3-0, 1-0) Shiraoka SCL (Kanto5/Saitama)
JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-15 (Kanto7/Chiba) 0-1 (0-1, 0-0) JFA Academy Fukushima (Tokai1/Shizuoka)

Hokkaido challenged Nojima Stella to reach their first ever semi-finals, as they showcased solid defence to end the first half scoreless but conceded consecutive goals in the second half to lose the match 0-2. In the match between Urawa and Shiraoka, it was Urawa who opened the scoring when HIRANAKA Kyono captured the goal in the third minute. The team went on to score three goals in the first half and Hiranaka added another in the second half to grab a sweeping victory. Academy Fukushima’s ISHIKAWA Rion scored the opener in the 13th minute off a set play. The Fukushima side came close to scoring their second goal in the 49th minute when HAYASHI Manaka delivered the ball to MATSUKUBO Manaka, who struck a shot from close range, but couldn’t add to their tally, as the match ended with a final score of 1-0. As a result, the semi-finals fixture for Thursday 26 July was set, where Serias faces Nojima, while Urawa squares off against Academy Fukushima.

JFA-TV will live-stream the two Semi-finals on Thursday 26 July, Final and Third-place match on Saturday 28 July.
*Please be aware that the internet live-stream may not be available depending on the connectivity and the browsing environment.
Internet Live-Stream (Japanese website)

The JFA 23rd U-15 Japan Women's Football Championship

Tournament Dates: Sat. 21 - Sat. 28 July 2018
Tournament Venue: J-GREEN Sakai (Sakai, Osaka)
Tournament Information