Pick-up Match

Kashiwa Reysol U-18　2-1（1-0, 1-1）Kashima Antlers Youth

Matchday 11 of the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League EAST was held on Sunday 4 September. Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) faced Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) at Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium.

Currently, Kashiwa is in seventh place, while Kashima is in eighth. Both teams are desperate to win to avoid relegation, and the match was filled with passion from the beginning. The first team who took the early initiative was Kashima; in the 1st minute, ISHIZU Hayato took a mid-range shot from a counterattack, and they kept attacking the Kashiwa’s goal. Kashima initiated their offense centred around SHINOZAKI Terukazu and midfielder SUDO Tsubasa. Even though Shinozaki is registered as a defender, he became the offensive target up front.

However, it was Kashiwa, playing at home, who capitalised on their limited scoring chances; in the 21st minute, NAKAMURA Riku launched their attack dribbling and connected the ball with his heal to TANAKA Riku. Passing the ball to Otani Kyohei, then relaying to Nakamura, and finally finding forward NAKAMURA Shunta, he, in turn, broke through Kashima’s defensive line and scored the opening goal calmly. 

Being a goal behind, Kashima put even stronger pressure on Kashiwa, but could not break through their solid defence, centred around by the 16-yearold goalkeeper, KOKUBO Leobrian, and field players, NAKAGAWA So and SHIROWA Hayate.

Second half started just like the first. Kashima were quicker in responding to second balls, hence they had advantages in the middle, but couldn’t apply a finishing touch to any of their scoring chances.

On the other hand, Kashiwa were patiently waiting for their scoring opportunity. In the 66th minute, MIYAMOTO Toshiaki picked up a cleared ball from Kashima and took a stunning middle-shot. He reflected about that moment: “I was facing directly at goal, so I decided to smash it.” A straight shot, putting no spin on the ball, successfully hit the right corner of the net. Kashiwa, who had been under pressure for longer stretches than Kashima, extended its lead to 2-0.

Kashima conceded 2 goals even though they kept attacking. However, they never ceased to aim at the Kashiwa’s goal. IDETSU Masaya in the 67th minute and ONUMA Tatsuki in the 79th minute took very close attempts, but both of them couldn’t find the net. Their persistent offense finally paid off in the 89th minute. Shinozaki headed a cross from the right wing home and Kashima got their much-awaited first goal. 

However, Kashiwa escaped from Kashima’s fierce attack, and the match ended with Kashiwa’s victory 2-1. As the team’s coach, NAGAI Shunta, said: “the players’ attitude changed after theie defeat against Yokohama F・Marinos Youth in the previous Matchday. We decided in training that we will focus on defence today.” They got three points from overcoming the issues found in the previous match. 

Even though Kashima lost the match, there were good aspects which will lead the team positively to the up-coming matches. As the team’s coach, KUMAGAI Koji, said: “the team are finally finding good form. We want to express our ‘passion in football,’ not pretending to be, so to say, ‘cool' players.” They continued to play well with a high level of concentration until the end. 

Coaches' and Players' Comments

NAGAI Shunta, Coach (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
If possible, we didn’t want to be in a situation where we were pressured. We scored as we envisioned, but we wanted to keep possession of the ball much longer. We had stretches where we could compete well, but we still have to learn the balance between going forward and controlling the ball in our own end.

In defence, we learned a lot from the previous match against Yokohama FM Youth. After this match, we discussed that we need to coordinate our efforts to steal the ball, if only one player cannot do so. We had training for this. I think we showed what we practiced and attained the positive result.

MIYAMOTO Toshiaki (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
When I scored, I decided to smash the ball at the moment when I trapped the ball. The shot found the net and it was really stunning goal. Since I've scored only few goals before, I am very happy. Today we capitalized on what we had learned from the previous match against Yokohama FM Youth; playing with more unity, raising more voices than opponents, and being more proactive. These are the aspects which brought us this victory. 

KUMAGAI Koji, Coah (Kashima Antlers Youth)
It wasn’t a bad match, but it is regrettable that we conceded the goals in a similar way. We have had a series of matches that we lost with one goal difference after conceding opener and trying hard to find the equaliser.

However, the players mainly had to defend in the first half of the season, whereas in this half they spent more time in offence. In the beginning of the season, I believe that our ability was 10th of 10 teams, but now they have reached to the point that they can feel ‘we can win.’ Now we will try harder to transfer this feeling into the real victory.

ISHIZU Hayato (Kashima Antlers Youth)
Personally it was my first official match after a long time, so I was primarily thing about playing for my team. The flow of the match could have been different if I could score the first shot. Shinozaki controls the ball well in the front line, so I want to play thinking about pushing back the defensive line by going into the space behind the defenders.

This year we experienced the training camp abroad and we got to know the difference of speed and power from stronger teams. This helps us to improve the quality of our daily practice. We want to attain the good results from these trainings. 

Other Matches

Omiya Ardija Youth　1-1（1-0, 0-1）Aomori Yamada High School
Albirex Niigata U-18　1-6（1-2, 0-4）Shimizu S-pulse Youth
Ichiritsu Funabashi High School　2-3（0-3, 2-0）Yokohama F・Marinos Youth
F.C. Tokyo U-18　3-1（1-0, 2-0）Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa

Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori), who is in 2nd place, scored an equalising goal by SUMIKAWA Takaaki in the last part of the match and got one point.

Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka) started a smashing attack in the second half. They scored 6 goals and beat Albirex Niigata U-18 (Niigata).

The top team, Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba), conceded 3 goals scored against Yokohama F・Marinos Youth. In spite of their attempt to equalise in the second half, they lost the match 2-3 and dropped to 3rd place.

F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) beat Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba) managing the match very well. They emerged to the top, overtaking Ichiritsu Funabashi High School and Aomori Yamada High School.

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