On Friday 8 March, the quarterfinals of the JFA 24th Japan Futsal Championship took place at Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Indoor Ball Sports Field. The intense battles between F League division 1 teams featured three come backs out of the four fixtures.

In the first match, last year’s triple crown winner Nagoya Oceans (F1) sought to replicate their feat from the previous year as they faced Bardral Urayasu (F1). It was the Urayasu side who took the initiative of this match, as NOMURA Keisuke captured the first goal in just eight seconds, followed by MIYAZAKI Gaku’s goal in the 11th minute. However, Nagoya responded with the two goals scored by WALTINHO and LUIZINHO to equalise the match within the first half, despite seeing PEPITA having to leave the match. Nagoya took the lead in the second half with the goal scored by YOSHIKAWA Tomoki, followed by their captain HOSHI Ryuta’s goal to extend the lead. In efforts to rally back, Urayasu initiated their power-play and scored back a goal in the closing minutes, but Nagoya kept their lead to advance through to the semi-finals.

The second quarterfinal match was played between Fugador Sumida (F1) and Shriker Osaka (F1). It was Sumida who scored the opener when KURIMOTO Hiroki captured the net in the fifth minute, but Osaka rallied with the two goals scored by AII Shinobu to take the lead by halftime. With Osaka having to endure a tough schedule in the past four weeks, where they played double-headers in each week, the Osaka players were visibly fatigued. The Sumida side took advantage of the situation as NIWA Shuto struck a powerful shot to level the match. Osaka made the effort to win the match within the 40-minute regulation time by initiating their power-play, but the match entered extra time with a score of 2-2. Despite seeing their players getting exhausted, it was the Osaka side who scored the next goal, as SHIBANO Sota shook the net in the second half of extra time. The Shriker’s goalkeeper HIYAMA Shogo sealed the deal by scoring a shot from long distance into the open net when they denied Sumida’s last efforts to score with their power play.

It was Vasagey Oita (F1) and Tachikawa/Fuchu Athletic F.C. (F1) featuring the third match. After a scoreless first half, Tachikawa/Fuchu captured the opening goal in the 27th minute when WATANABE Tomoaki found the back of the net. The Tokyo side went onto cruise through the quarterfinals with goals scored by MARQUINHO, SAKAI Ryotaro, and another goal scored by Watanabe to clinch the semi-finals with a 4-0 victory.

Perhaps the most entertaining match of the day came in the fourth quarterfinal match between Voscuore Sendai (F1) and Pescadola Machida (F1). The match saw Machida take the initiative with Daniel SAKAI and MORIOKA Kaoru scoring a goal each, but Sendai rallied back in the early minutes of the second half with Alan GITAHY’s goal, followed by the equaliser scored by SEKI Naoto, who announced his retirement after this season. The match went into a deadlock with a score of 2-2 and entered penalty shootouts. Each team’s goalkeeper shined in this penalty kicks, as Sendai’s SAITA Hiroki and Machida’s ONODERA Yusuke made numbers of superb saves to extend the shootouts to the seventh kicker. After Sendai converted their spot-kick, Saita came up with another big save to send his team to their first ever semi-finals appearance in franchise history.

The semi-finals will take place on Saturday 9 to determine the two teams competing for the national title.

Coach and Players' Comments

BOLA (Fugador Sumida)
Although we lost the match, everyone played very hard and that’s the most important thing. I wasn’t able to play well this season and didn’t get to play much matches. With the team aiming to utilise younger players in the upcoming season, I have decided to leave the team. I am not sure where I will be playing, but I am confident that I can continue to play as a professional, so I will keep on playing. It would be ideal if I can play in the F League, but even if I have to go to another country, I will continue to pursue my career.

HARADA Kohei (Vasagey Oita)
With this loss, my career as a professional has officially came to an end. It was a long journey, but when it’s over, it feels like it just flew by so quickly. I didn’t get much playing time today, but coming back from a big injury, I have rushed myself to return to the court, so my game fitness was not at the level I wanted to be. Although I wanted to help the team reach a higher level, I wasn’t able to do that. I am truly grateful that I was able to be a part of this team and play with these teammates at the end of my career.

SAITA Hiroki (Voscuore Sendai)
Following the end of the season, we have been working on our penalty kicks as a team. During our trainings, I was able to stop many of the spot-kicks and that has given me the confidence in today’s match. Although it was my first ever penalty shootouts in an official futsal match, I was able to face it with ease. The team has made it to their first ever semi-finals, but we are not feeling any pressure. We are just excited to see how far we can make it. Sendai might be looked at as a dark horse, but we will continue to work hard so that we can earn the victory in our match tomorrow.

OKAYAMA Kosuke, Coach (Pescadola Machida)
This match turned out to be a match that symbolises our season where we allowed our opponents to come back from a two-goal lead in numbers of matches. We came prepared to avoid such scenario, but the result was unfortunate. Although we need to improve on many aspects, perhaps the most important part is being critical at the final third. If we can’t convert those close chances, we can’t win matches. I spoke to my players that we must be more critical if we really wanted to become the champions, and although we showed signs of improvements last week, we weren’t able to show that today, so that was disappointing.

Quarterfinals 3/8 17:45 kick-off
Voscuore Sendai (F1/9th) vs Pescadola Machida (F1/5th)

Quarterfinals 3/8 15:30 kick-off
Vasagey Oita (F1/6th) vs Tachikawa/Fuchu Athletic F.C. (F1/3rd)

Quarterfinals 3/8 13:15 kick-off
Fugador Sumida (F1/7th) vs Shriker Osaka (F1/2nd)

Quarterfinals 3/8 11:00 kick-off
Nagoya Oceans (F1/1st) vs Bardral Urayasu (F1/10th)

JFA 24th Japan Futsal Championship

Quarterfinals - Final
Tournament Dates: Fri. 8 - Sun. 10 March
Venue: Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Indoor Ball Sports Field, Tokyo

Tournament Information