Date: Tue. 1 November [16:00 (local time)]
Venue: Kite Beach (Dubai)

Japan Beach Soccer National Team 3 (3-1, 0-0, 0-0)1 USA Beach Soccer National Team

【Goals】
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4' OKUYAMA Masanori
6' Goal against
8' OKUYAMA Masanori
9' OKUYAMA Masanori

Starting Line-up
GK KAWAI Yusuke
FP MOREIRA Ozu, OBA Takaaki, MATSUO Naoya, AKAGUMA Takuya

Reserve
GK GINOZA Tomoya
FP YAMAUCHI Shusei, OKUYAMA Masanori, UESATO Takumi, KIBUNE Yuki, SAITO Gaiya, TANAKA Hayate

Match Report

The Japan Beach Soccer National Team went into the game undeterred despite the challenges they faced in their opening match of the competition. The Japanese players cooperated to maintain pressure from the front line and restrict their opponents' offensive options who consisted with a goalkeeper with excellent footwork. In terms of offence, the pivot managed to get open to receive the ball from the goalkeeper, allowing the team to build their attacks effectively.

The opening goal came in the fourth minute, when OKUYAMA Masanori (Loewe Yokohama) received the ball from KAWAI Yusuke (Tokyo Verdy BS), scooped the ball into the air himself, and scored with a bicycle shot. The USA responded two minutes later, when they initiated a counterattack. Although Japan had enough men to cover the attack, they were unable to stop the shot from going in because it took an odd bounce in front of the goalkeeper. Despite conceding the equaliser, Japan maintained their composure to take control of the match. In the eighth minute, Okuyama scored from a designed play from a corner kick, before OBA Takaaki (Loewe Yokohama) converted a delivery from Kawai in the ninth minute to make it 3-1.

Defensively, the Japanese players effectively shifted their positions to contain their opponents, who used a 2-2 formation and actively engaged their goalkeeper on offense. The deep, heavy sand took away a lot of stamina from both sides, and in the third period, when both teams were worn down, Japan succeeded in preserving their stamina by increasing possession and keeping their opponents moving by effectively using their goalkeeper, as the match ended 3-1.

The team was able to redeem themselves against an opponent they lost to at the Mundialito Gran Canaria 2022 in Spain in July.

The Japan Beach Soccer National Team will now face Paraguay on Wednesday 2 November at 16:00 (21:00 Japan time).

Players' Comments

FP #11 OKUYAMA Masanori (Loewe Yokohama)
Personally, it was my first official match played abroad in a year, and I felt the difficulties of long-distance travel, time differences, measures against Covid, and the short preparation period. However, the players and staff understood that the national team is always expected to achieve results, and I believe we prepared well by supporting and encouraging one another. Despite playing in our first match of the tournament, we were able to play aggressively as a team and finish the game without giving up too many goals during challenging times, which gave us a lot of confidence both individually and as a team. I would like to thank all the fans who came to support us at the venue, and all of those who watched our game online. What we can do for them is to fight hard and earn results. Tomorrow, the team will give it their all while concentrating on both performance and results, so that we can demonstrate the kind of football that will make our fans want to talk about beach soccer to those who are unfamiliar with the sport.

FP #15 SAITO Gaiya (Sol Mar Praia Okinawa)
With the team’s goal for this tournament being to win the title, I am relieved that we were able to win the first match of the group stage. It was hard to get used to the feeling of the sand, which is very different from what we are used to in Japan, but we were all able to concentrate and fight until the end. We feel quite confident moving forward because we were able to score off a play that we had been working on. Personally, I wasn’t able to capitalise on the opportunities I was given, so I hope to do better in those situations in the remaining matches.

Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup Dubai 2022

Tournament period: Tue. 1 - Sun. 6 November 2022

Tournament Information