◆Date: Sat. 12 November [17:15 (local time)]
◆Venue: Gayal Beach (Neom, Saudi Arabia)

Japan Beach Soccer National Team 7 (2-0, 2-1, 3-2) 3 England Beach Soccer National Team

【Goals】
<1p>
1' OBA Takaaki
3' SHIBAMOTO Shinya
<2p>
3' Goal against
5' MOREIRA Ozu
7' KIBUNE Yuki
<3p>
1' UESATO Takumi
2' Goal against
2' MOREIRA Ozu
8' MATSUO Naoya
10' Goal against

Starting Line-up
GK　SHIBAMOTO Shinya
FP　MOREIRA Ozu, MATSUO Naoya, OBA Takaaki, OKUYAMA Masanori

Reserve
GK　KAWAI Yusuke
FP　YAMAUCHI Shusei, AKAGUMA Takuya, UESATO Takumi, KIBUNE Yuki, SAITO Gaiya, TANAKA Hayate

Match Report

Japan opened the action in the first minute, when OBA Takaaki (Loewe Yokohama) played a pass and go with AKAGUMA Takuya (Lazo Apego Kitakyusyu) to score the opening goal. SHIBAMOTO Shinya (Averdade Kumamoto BS), who came off a one-match suspension, followed with a goal scored in the third minute to double the Japanese lead. From this point on, Japan struggled to take advantage of their opportunities, but displayed excellent composure in defence to keep the English team at bay, as the first period ended 2-0.

Despite conceding a goal to England in the third minute of the second period, Japan responded with a free kick converted by MOREIRA Ozu (Tokyo Verdy BS) in the fifth minute, followed by the goal of KIBUNE Yuki (Averdade Kumamoto BS) in the seventh minute, which was assisted by an interception made by OKUYAMA Masanori (Loewe Yokohama).

The Japanese players showed great aggression from the start of the third period, forcing a turnover deep in the opposing end to setup the goal of UESATO Takumi (Tokyo Verdy BS) in the first minute. Despite giving up a goal in the second minute, Moreira scored from the subsequent kick-off to maintain their four-goal lead.

With a commanding lead, Japan continued to control the ball possession. In the eighth minute, MATSUO Naoya (Averdade Kumamoto BS) responded to a deflection of a shot taken by YAMAUCHI Shusei (Tokyo Verdy BS) to score the team’s seventh goal. England managed to score a goal in the 10th minute, but their rally ended there, as Japan won the match 7-3 to finish fifth in the Neom Beach Soccer Cup.

Players' Comments

FP #8 MATSUO Naoya (Averdade Kumamoto BS)
With this being our final match in this series of tours held in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, we focused on eliminating goals conceded from our own mistakes, which was a reoccurring issue throughout this tour. In terms of offence, I feel like we managed to broaden our options in the attacking third, as we scored number of goals from different sequences. With the Asian Qualifiers scheduled in March of next year, we will continue strive to improve ourselves during the winter.

FP #9 YAMAUCHI Shusei (Tokyo Verdy BS)
We were able to successfully execute our plays and score back-to-back goals to start the game. However, we conceded a careless goal at the beginning of the second period, so is an aspect we need to reflect and improve on. We did manage to make adjustments after that goal and add to our tally, which is a sign of maturity as a team. It is great that we were able to finish the tournament with a victory, but we are not satisfied with our overall performance, so we must try to make the most of this experience to become a better team.

Neom Beach Soccer Cup

Tournament period: Wed. 9 - Sat. 12 November 2022

Tournament Information