The second round fixtures of the JFA 25th U-15 Japan Women's Football Championship took place on 13 December.

Pick-up Match1

Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Junior Youth 2-0 (0-0, 2-0) Thespakusatsu Gunma Ladies U-15

In the first match played at Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium, defending champion Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Junior Youth (Kanto2/Saitama) squared off against Thespakusatsu Gunma Ladies U-15 (Kanto6/Gunma), who defeated Mynavi Sendai Ladies Junior Youth in PKs at the first round.

The match started with Urawa taking the initiative, but Gunma played with great aggression to defend their goal. Following the first water break, Urawa used their substitution to bring in MAEHARA Yoshino, but the score remained tied 0-0 at halftime.

Urawa continued to show their dominance in the second half, as the deadlock was broken in the 55th minute by Maehara, a player described by her coach, “a player who can smell out opportunities.” The goal came when Maehara collected a loose ball inside the Gunma penalty area and dribbled passed the GK to score the opening goal, as she later reflected, “The ball came right to me, so I was committed to score a goal.”

With momentum on their side, Urawa went onto score their second goal, when TAKEUCHI Ami connected with a cross sent by TSUKAZAKI Moemi in the 65th minute. The Saitama side showcased their dominance throughout the match to make their way into eh quarterfinals, as Maehara mentioned after the match, “Last year, I was only able to score one goal, so I want to score five goals this year and help the team win back to back titles.”

Pick-up Match2

Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Avvenire 8-1 (4-0, 4-1) AIC Seagull Hiroshima Ladies

The match between the top seed from the Kanto region, Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Avvenire (Kanto1/Kanagawa) and AIC Seagull Hiroshima Ladies (Chugoku1/Hiroshima), started with the Hiroshima side taking the initiative. In the seventh minute, Hiroshima’s ITAMURA Mao struck a sharp shot from distance, but the shot was saved by the Nojima GK.

Nojima Stella on the other hand, utilised their speed to create opportunities. In the 12th minute, Nojima captured the opening goal from a CK, as ARUGA Runa struck a header that shook the net. Just one minute later, Hiroshima conceded an own goal to give Nojima Stella a two goal lead.

Gaining full momentum, Nojima went onto score two more goals within the first half, as KIRYU Aki and ONO Kaho scored goals in the 16th and 23rd minute, respectively, entering halftime with a 4-0 lead.

After conceding two more goals in the second half, Hiroshima responded with a goal scored by KITAGAWA Sawa in the 74th minute, but could not stop Nojima from scoring more goals, as they gave up two more goals before the final whistle. As a result, Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Avvenire advanced to the quarterfinals with an 8-1 victory.

Coaches and Player's Comments

MOMOTAKE Eri, Coach (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Junior Youth)
Every team is hoping to make a deep run at this tournament, especially with this being the final tournament for the third grade players. That is why we must think what we can do at each of these matches. Today, our players were losing their composure because we couldn’t score goals in the first half, so I told them during halftime to reorganise their mindset and to play with a strong mentality. We are not thinking about winning consecutive titles. We must first focus on the match ahead of us and prepare to win each match. The players have won their ticket to this stage, so I want them to leave no regret at this competition.

SHIRAI Sadayoshi, Coach (Thespakusatsu Gunma Ladies U-15)
We couldn’t do anything. We faced them twice this year and lost by large margins in both matches. This was a match where we had to make adjustments to compete against a superior opponent, but they were just way too good. We did not enter the match with a defensive approach, but with our opponent deploying two attacking midfielders, we were forced to drop back to cover them. We had the tendency to lose these kinds of matches with a large margin, but our players played with great patience and showcased how much they have improved as a team and as individuals.

YOSHIDA Ayaka, Coach (Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara Avvenire)
Yesterday, we looked nervous and could not play well, but we managed to enter this match more relaxed. Our defence did not face many shots at the Kanto League, but their ability to play tenaciously in front of the goal is one of our strong points. There are lots of pressure as the number one seed of Kanto, but with this being our third graders’ last competition, we want to make a deep run at this tournament. It is a rare opportunity for the players to play under this kind of atmosphere and stadium, so I hope they will make the most out of this experience to become a better player.

HIGUCHI Mika (AIC Seagull Hiroshima Ladies)
We have been working on our CKs, so we really wanted to score a goal from it. We entered the match with the intention to keep up with the opponent’s speed and to defend against the through balls, but we conceded from our miscommunication in defence. After playing in the Chugoku league, we were overwhelmed by the pressure at the national stage. We did not make enough runs and could not cover each other. There are plenty of room for improvements. We still have the U-18 and Futsal tournament left for us, so we hope to feed off of this experience to become a better team.

JFA 25th U-15 Japan Women's Football Championship

Tournament duration: Sat. 12 - Mon. 28 December 2020

Tournament Information