U-16 International Dream Cup 2015 JAPAN 1st Match
2015-6-24 (Wed.) -14:30  Playing time: 90min. (45min. x 2)
J-GREEN SAKAI (Sakai City, Osaka)

U-16 Japan National Team  7-0（1st 1-0、2nd 6-0） U-16 Costa Rica National Team

Score
16'   NAKAMURA Shunta (Japan)
47'   NAKAMURA Shunta (Japan)
48'   NAKAMURA Shunta (Japan)
50'   NAKAJIMA Motohiko (Japan)
56'   NAKAJIMA Motohiko (Japan)
77'   SAITO Mitsuki (Japan)
85'   NAKAMURA Shunta (Japan)

Line-ups
GK: OSAKO Keisuke
DF: NAKAYA Yuki, HASHIOKA Daiki, NISHIYAMA Taiga, YOSHIDA Ayumi
MF: HORI Kenta, SHINADA Manato, ITO Hiroki, FUJIMOTO Kanya
FW: NAKAMURA Shunta, KATO Takumi

Substitutes
GK: OKI Yuya
DF: MIZUTA Kazuma, TANAKA Kosuke, SHIOZAKI Yuji
MF: ARAI Hikaru, SAITO Mitsuki
FW: NAKAJIMA Motohiko

HT   KATO Takumi → NAKAJIMA Motohiko
HT   NAKAYA Yuki → TANAKA Kosuke
HT   SHINADA Manato → SAITO Mitsuki
52'   YOSHIDA Ayumi → MIZUTA Kazuma
52'   HORI Kenta → ARAI Hikaru
60'   ITO Hiroki → SHIOZAKI Yuji

Match Report

The U-16 International Dream Cup 2015 JAPAN Presented by JFA finally got underway. U-16 Japan National Team's first opponents were the U-16 Costa Rica National Team.

As the players were tensed early in the match, Japan were not able to get the ball down the opponents' box. Yet in the 16th minute, NAKAMURA Shunta ran through to SHINADA Manato's through ball from the left flank and composedly beat the opposing goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation to give his side the opening goal of the match. Japan kept showing solid defence led by HASHIOKA Daiki before ending the first half.

At halftime, head coach MORIYAMA Yoshiro said, "It's still not enough. You were defending well, but on the offensive side, I want you guys to improve accuracy of final passes toward a goal. Let's go for the second and third goals." He sent them onto the pitch with the words.

In the 47th minute, Japan, attacking aggressively from the start of the second half, YOSHIDA Ayumi ran through space behind defenders and fired a shot, which then an opposing defender failed to clear. Namamura picked it up and sent it into the net for his side's second goal. And in the 48th minute, Nakamura added one more for a hat trick when he responded to NAKAJIMA Motohiko's through ball and beat the opposing goalkeeper.

Japan extended the lead further when Nakajima scored in the 50th and 56th minutes. In the 77th minute, Nakamura headed MIZUTA Kazuma's cross and his header hit off the post, but SAITO Mitsuki volleyed the deflection for his side's sixth goal. Nakamura again netted Tanaka Kosuke's cross to wrap up the match with a 7-0 win.

Players' Comments 

OSAKO Keisuke (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
As we had high ball possession today, we were able to play the match in our favour. In the first half, the opponents had momentum and we struggled to catch our rhythm. But with the early goal in the second half helped us get our momentum and finally win the match.

Individually, I was able to manage the risk when my teammates were attacking and come out to meet crosses well. I felt my passing accuracy was still poor and my coaching skill was also a thing to improve. The next opponents are also strong. We will take on an aggressive challenge without any fear of mistakes and grab a victory as one.

MIZUTA Kazuma (Kwansei Gakuin Senior High School)
As I was sent onto the pitch midway through the match when we were leading 3-0, I was trying to overlap aggressively. When I actually stepped on the pitch, I was nervous in the first 15 minutes. 

But the fact I was able to overlap aggressively with my strength hard-running and contribute to my team's goal gave me confidence. I was allowing opponents to break through my side, so I will try not to lose one-on-one situations. I think we can make clear what part we can do well and what part we cannot do well by playing against strong opponents like today's.

TANAKA Kosuke (Kyoto Sanga F.C.U-18)
It was a very good match today. Especially, we kept concentration and kept a clean sheet on the defensive side. That gave us confidence. It was also good in the offensive side that I was able to show my strengths like hard-running and side attacks. Even though I went forward and sometimes wasn't able to kick in a cross and send accurate crosses, I want to improve that by the next match. We will discuss what to improve and what we found in today's match. We will also refresh our mindset and work on tomorrow's training.

SHIOZAKI Yuji (Kokoku High School)
I was slow as it was my first time to play a national team match. I found I need to improve how to predict and cope with long balls and where to control the ball with the first touch. Keeping the assignment in mind from tomorrow's practice, I will try to learn good plays from my teammates like defensive line control and defence on corner kicks.

SAITO Mitsuki (Shonan Bellmare Youth)
It's a great opportunity to play serious matches against world's strong teams, so in this tournament I want to try out how well my trait like winning the ball and hard-running work against such teams. 

In today's match, I sent the ball vertically and overlapped my teammates so that we could keep creating chances, and I'm glad we scored a lot as a result. I need to improve accuracy of final passes and not to miss chances to win the ball. In the following Chile U-16s match, I think we won't win unless we call out for each other more and try to win the ball. We will keep concentration on tomorrow's training as well.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

U-16 France National Team vs U-16 Chile National Team highlight here

Schedule

Note: The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

U-16 International Dream Cup 2015 JAPAN Presented by JFA

Wed. 24 June - Sun. 28 June 2015
J-GREEN Sakai, Kincho Stadium (Osaka) *Admission Free

More information

Future Schedule