Training Match
Wednesday 10 September 2014  Kick Off at  16:30　90minutes(45minutes halves)
Narashino City Akitsu Soccer Field（Narashino City, Chiba）

U-21 Japan National Team　0-0（1st 0-0  2nd 0-0）All Japan University Select Team

1st
GK：NIEKAWA Ayumi 
DF：MUROYA Sei、UEDA Naomichi、NISHINO Takaharu、AKINO Hiroki
MF：NOZAWA Hideyuki、NOTSUDA Gakuto、OHSHIMA Ryota
FW：ARANO Takuma、SUZUKI Musashi、NAKAJIMA Shoya

2nd
GK：NIEKAWA Ayumi 
DF：YUZAWA Masato、IWANAMI Takuya、YOSHINO Kyohei、YAMANAKA Ryosuke
MF：NOZAWA Hideyuki、KIDA Takuya、HARAKAWA Riki
FW：KANAMORI Takeshi、SAWAKAMI Ryuji、YAJIMA Shinya

Substitutes
72min   NOZAWA Hideyuki → AKINO Hiroki

Match Report

Japan national U-21 team took on the Japan university selection team in the final warm-up match on 10th before the Asian Games to be held in Incheon, Korea Republic.
The opposing university selection team are in the middle of their own training to win the gold medal at the Universiade in July next year in Gwangju, Korea Republic. Additionally, they are in the same generation as the U-21 team and also eligible for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

With such a strong rivalry, the university selection tried hard to grasp the initiative from the start showing their furious fighting spirit. Meanwhile, the national U-21 team also fought back with their solid defence not to allow any goal-scoring opportunities before the first half of the match ended with 0-0.
In the second half, both teams replaced a number of players. The U-21 squad came close to the goal with their aggressive plays but could not score a goal as the opposing goalkeeper denied their efforts.
Japan dominated the last minutes of the match when the university selection became a bit slow. Kanamori Takeshi (Fukuoka) and others fired shots but still could not find the net. The match remained scoreless until the end.

Comments

Teguramori Makoto, Head Coach
I told (players) before the match that today (the aim of the match) is not only for the (first) match against Kuwait but also for the entire Asian Games.
It was good that we had a game as this national U-21 team after so long to share understanding of the team’s concept as of now, check current squad’s condition and review their playing quickness.
In June, we lost to the same team (at the training camp in Osaka). In that sense, the re-match turned out to be a good opportunity for both of the teams.
We should have better understanding of the priority in offence once we get into official matches.
I made up line-ups to make our system flexible in both halves.
As well as understanding Kuwait’s strengths, we need to imprint the tactics that enable us to attack their weaknesses.
Each (of players) was able to expand their understanding of our tactics. Even so, their real target is Rio Olympics and that’s our ultimate goal. Now we are still at a half way but still need to play the Asian Games with what we have now. We are targeting for that ultimate goal, but need to play a match understanding what we can do right now. There is no need to rush.
With knowing what we can do and where we are at, we will try our best for the Asian Games.

NISHINO Takaharu, Gamba Osaka
As our coach said, today we had a couple of objectives like checking our condition, reviewing how we play as a team and taking it as a showcase of ourselves. I kept them in mind and played the match.
Individually, I’m happy that we didn’t allow any goal. But I had some easy mistakes at significant moments. That’s what I need to solve. I will try to solve it as the tournament will start this weekend.
Japan won the last Asian Games, so we will try to win the trophy. It’s important to play as one united team.
To do that, we all need to have the same understanding of how we are trying to play. But anyway we could review it in the practice match today so we can adjust some things at practices in the next few days to get ready for the first match.

OHSHIMA Ryota,　Kawasaki Frontale
The match was tough. After the match, we discussed with each other, so I think we can get better if we have good communication in the next match. Our team is still not perfect. We are at the stage where we are looking for methods to create “efficient attacks,” which coach Teguramori wants from us. To implement it, we need to not only pursue what we want to do but also value a balance. This team has its own way of playing, so each of us is supposed to change our way of thinking. With that in mind, personally I need to make a long run and score a goal just as Shibasaki Gaku did at the match against Venezuela the other day. As the captain (of today’s match), I have a strong feeling that “I’ve got to make it.”

NOZAWA Hideyuki,　F.C.Tokyo
To me, it’s been a long since I played in a real match. The match turned out to be a great opportunity to get back a sense of my play. But as a team, we had lots of occasions where both of our offensive and defensive plays didn’t work. We all have to look at and discuss details. When I got the ball, it took me too many seconds to move onto my next play. That’s because of lack of communication and lack of my thinking speed. I should have moved the ball more simply and fed more vertical passes. The issues that came up today are what we can overcome by communicating aloud with each other in the following practices. We have only less than a week to go until the Asian Games. But we have practiced together over a period of time, so what we need to do is to stick to details. I hope we can finish the training in a good way and get good momentum for the tournament.