Day two of the 14th All Japan University Futsal Championship took place on Saturday 25 August, as the remaining eight matches of the first round were played.

In Group A, two teams won two consecutive matches in day one, while the other two lost their two matches, setting up a match between the undefeated teams to determine the group leaders. Osaka Seikei University futsal club (Host region/Osaka) and Keio University Soccer Team (Kanto2/Tokyo) clashed under a tense atmosphere, where the winner of this match would automatically advance to the final round. It was Keio University’s TATEISHI Shuya who scored the opening goal. Osaka Seikei University rallied back in the second half with consecutive goals scored in the 22nd and 29th minutes. Trailing by a goal, Keio University’s Kojima Riku nailed a shot from distance to once again level the match in the 32nd minute. The match ended with a final score of 2-2, giving each teams a total of seven points apiece. As a result, Osaka Seikei University topped the league with the advantage in goal differential, while Keio University also clinched their berth to the final round as they earned the best record among the runners-up from each group.

Juntendo University futsal club GAZIL/JFC (Kanto1/Chiba) who has won the championship two years straight, already secured their spot as the leader of Group B after two matches played in day one. However, the remaining three teams kept their motivations high to clinch as the runners-up. Thanks to TOMINAGA Kanta’s hat-trick, Hokkaido University Esperanza (Hokkaido) recorded a come from behind victory against Nagasaki University futsal club FORZA (Kyushu2/Nagasaki), while Aichi Gakuin University ART FUTSAL CLUB (Tokai/Aichi) showcased a great fight against the Juntendo University side who has recorded 12 consecutive wins at this competition, as they tied the match 6-6.

With two matches remaining for each team to play in Group C, Doshisha University futsal club TREBOL (Kansai/Kyoto) won their first match 8-2 against Yamaguchi University futsal club (Chugoku/Yamaguchi). With momentum on their side, Doshisha University went onto record a come from behind victory against Sendai University futsal club (Tohoku/Miyagi), who has earned their first win at the national championship in their previous match, securing their spot into the final round with three consecutive wins.

The semi-finals will take place on Sunday 26 August, as the Group A leaders, Osaka Seikei University will face the Group B leaders, Juntendo University, while the Group C leaders Doshisha University will square off against Keio University who earned the best record among the runners-up from each group.

The final will be played following the semi-final matches on the same day to determine this year’s collegiate national champions.

Coach and Players' Comments

KOJIMA Riku (Keio University Soccer Team)
This is my first national championship appearance, so I was a bit nervous, but after playing yesterday, I managed to loosen up and perform well today. We watched the film of last year’s final between Juntendo University and Osaka Seikei University to build our image to win against these teams. Although we tied in our match today, we will win the matches tomorrow to win the tournament. We are here to take home the title and sing our club song at the ceremony, so we will prepare ourselves well ahead of our match tomorrow.

TAKEYAMA Ryohei (Aichi Gakuin University ART FUTSAL CLUB)
Although we have lost two matches yesterday, we wanted to leave a mark at this championship by putting up a good fight against the two-time defending champions, Juntendo University. It was a bit disappointing that we couldn’t earn the win, but we gave our all to tie against them, so that was something positive we can take back. We were up by three goals in each of our matches yesterday but suffered a loss in both matches. We also had the lead in our match today as well, exposing our inability to close out matches. The fourth-year players including myself will retire after this championship, but I hope the younger players will work on our weakness to come back to this stage next year.

HAGA Shuta, Coach (Sendai University futsal club)
We had to keep our eye on the other match’s result while we played our match. We decided to enforce our power-play during the match, but we have to give Doshisha University credit for their efforts to score the final goal. They really showed us why they are the Kansai-champions. Our opponents showed much more composure. We managed to earn our first win at this tournament and the fact that we only had three fourth-year players gives us hope for the future, especially after seeing our first-year player showing so much emotion after our loss. We will feed off of this bitter experience to improve ourselves.

YAGI Norihiro (Doshisha University futsal club TREBOL)
I am relieved that we have managed to advance to the final round. We lost in the semi-finals last year, so we hope to make it one step further this year. With the fourth-year players leading the team, we have shown great unity with the players on the pitch, our supporters in the stands, staffs, managers, and the former players. I hope we can materialise what we have been working on in our match tomorrow. Keio University is a very physical team, but we have been playing at the first division of the Kansai Adults League, so we are used to facing teams with strong physicals.

Sat. 25 August: 1st Round Highlights

The 14th All Japan University Futsal Championship

Tournament Dates: Fri. 24 - Sun. 26 August 2018
Tournament Venue: Kishiwada City Gymnasium, Osaka
Tournament Information