Japan Futsal National Team had the first International Friendly against Croatia Futsal National Team on 29 November. While many people visited the venue to cheer on the match, in the 1st minute Japan conceded the first goal and Croatia took control of the game. They added another 2 goals in the 12th and 14th minutes by getting chances from Japan’s mistakes. The 1st half ended 0-3.

In the 2nd half, Japan suffered from Croatia’s attacks with their powerful physique but they got a chance to counter attack with their powerful play.

In the 37th minute, SAKAI (NAGOYA OCEANS) and in the 38th minute, WATANABE (DALIAN YUANCHAO/China) scored and the team got momentum. However, Japan conceded another goal again.

In the 40th minute, Sakai made a powerful shot but it didn’t find the net and the match ended. Even though there was the issue about how to build up their play from the beginning, they could get some positive lessons from this first match.

International Friendly Match  vs  Croatia Futsal National Team
2015-11-29 (Sun.) - 18:00 (Local time)　Playing Time: 40min (20min×2)
Arena Varaždin/Varaždin

Japan Futsal National Team　3-4 (0-3, 3-1)　Croatia Futsal National Team

Scores
1'　Goal against (Croatia Futsal National Team)
12'　Goal against (Croatia Futsal National Team)
14'　Goal against (Croatia Futsal National Team)
36'　SAKAI Rafael Yoshio (NAGOYA OCEANS)
37'　WATANABE Tomoaki (DALIAN YUANCHAO/China)
38'　Goal against (Croatia Futsal National Team)
40'　SAKAI Rafael Yoshio (NAGOYA OCEANS)

Starting Five
GK: SEKIGUCHI Yushi (ESPOLADA HOKKAIDO)
FP: SAKAI Rafael Yoshio (NAGOYA OCEANS), NISHITANI Ryosuke (FUGADOR SUMIDA), NIBUYA Kazuhiro (VASAGEY OITA), MORIOKA Kaoru (NAGOYA OCEANS)

Players' Comments

GK ＃1  SEKIGUCHI Yushi (ESPOLADA HOKKAIDO)
In the earlier part of the 1st half we conceded a couple goals and we allowed the opponent to keep control of the match. We have found issues for the next match such as avoiding mistakes and conceding goals, so we want to switch our mind well and improve ourselves for the next match.

FP ＃8  TAKITA Manabu (PESCADOLA MACHIDA)
One of the most important things for us when we play at the world-level is to have an aggressive defence. This is the Japan’s strength and I believe that we can play well even against the world’s top teams if we can do our best. However, we kept responding to the opponent’s attacks so negatively. We kept choosing plays that caused us to concede goals and as a captain and as a senior player, I had too many issues from this match. For the rest of the matches, I will keep working hard to make good results as a squad player.

Schedule

*Local time
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, etc.