UAE Football Cup 2nd Match vs U-17 UAE National Team
28 February 2018 (Wed.) Kick-off 19:00(Local Time) Playing Time 90min.(45min.×2)
The complex of UAE FA (Dubai/UAE)

U-17 Japan National Team 5-0 (2-0, 3-0) U-17 UAE National Team

Scores
3' BABA Seiya (U-17 Japan National Team)
28' FUJIO Shota (U-17 Japan National Team)
56' SAITO Koki (U-17 Japan National Team)
64' SAITO Koki (U-17 Japan National Team)
79' ARITA Keito (U-17 Japan National Team)

Starting Line-ups
GK: ITAHASHI Yosei
DF: HATA Taiga, BABA Seiya, KIMURA Seiji, HASHIMOTO Shuya
MF: ARITA Keito, IWAMOTO Sho, KOBAYASHI Natsuki, MIYAGI Ten
FW: FUJIO Shota, YAMAZAKI Ryosuke

Reserves
GK: MITSUI Daiki
DF: HANDA Riku, IWAI Ryuji, MATSUDA Eitaro, YAMASAKI Taichi
MF: MATSUMOTO Nagi, YAMAMOTO Rihito
FW: BROWNE Noah Kenshin, SAITO Koki

Substitutions
53' YAMAZAKI Ryosuke → SAITO Koki
64' IWAMOTO Sho → YAMAMOTO Rihito
71' FUJIO Shota → BROWNE Noah Kenshin
71' MIYAGI Ten → MATSUDA Eitaro
75' BABA Seiya → MATSUMOTO Nagi
85' HATA Taiga → YAMASAKI Taichi

Match Report

Japan played their second game of the Cup against the hosting team U-17 UAE, who has beaten U-17 Bahrain 3-0 in their first match. Led by their forward YAMAZAKI Ryosuke, Japan started the match by applying strong pressure throughout the field. With this pressure, Japan would take the initiative early on in the match. In the 3rd minute, Japan earned a corner kick. Captain BABA Seiya got to the end of the cross delivered by IWAMOTO Sho and scored a header in the near side. The UAE side came close to creating several goal scoring opportunities with their counter attacks, but the Japanese defence led by their goalkeeper ITAHASHI Yosei displayed a solid performance to keep them away from scoring. In the 28th minute, MIYAGI Ten penetrated the left flank before sending a cross to FUJIO Shota at the centre. FUJIO reacted to the delivery well, striking a goal to stretch Japan’s lead to two goals. In the 37th minute, Japan picked up a loose ball following a corner kick and delivered the ball towards the centre. Miyagi was able to connect with the cross with his header, but his shot hit the goalpost. The game went into half time with a two-goal lead for Japan.

Japan carried their momentum into the second half, spending more time in attack. In the 56th minute, SAITO Koki scored a goal from a free kick which he earned himself. In the 64th minute, ARITA Keito and SAITO combined well in the right flank to enter the penalty area, and SAITO scored Japan’s fourth goal. Then at the 79th minute mark, MATSUDA Eitaro ran up the right flank before delivering a cross. SAITO competed against the opponent’s defender to get the ball, while ARITA reacted to the loose ball to take a shot unmarked, striking Japan’s fifth goal. The UAE seemed to be out of stamina but focused on their defence to prevent any more losses. Japan struggled to create any more goal-scoring opportunities despite their dominance in possession. Although the team aggressively dribbled up and sent balls behind their opponent’s defence line, they could not find ways to score more goals. The score stayed at 5-0 giving Japan their first win. Despite the large margin victory, their struggle to score a goal in the last minutes, certainly gave them something to improve on.

Players' Comments

GK #12 ITAHASHI Yosei (Sagan Tosu U-18)
Reflecting on today’s match against UAE, I think I was able to display my strength, such as build-ups. But I felt the need to improve on my coaching, ball handling and quality of my feeds. I will stay modest and work hard on my tasks once I return to my club.

DF #5 KIMURA Seiji (F.C. Tokyo U-18)
I’m very pleased that I was called-up for this UAE trip. I made several small mistakes today, and I couldn’t show my best performance. I felt like I lacked preparation as well. Going forward, I’d like to work on my problems and improve myself to be able to play my best. During this trip, I’ve learned what I am capable of doing and at the same time what I need to improve on. So, I’d like to feed off of this experience and improve myself when I go back to my team.

MF #14 IWAMOTO Sho (Gamba Osaka Youth)
After we have drawn against Russia in our first match, today was a must win situation for us. At the beginning of the game, including myself, we seemed to rush our plays against our opponent’s pressure. Once we got used to the pressure, we gradually started to pass the ball around and were able to control the game. It was great that we were able to grab the lead early. It was also great that our defenders played physical to keep the clean sheet, while our attackers scored many goals. The next match will be the last match for this trip. I’d like to perform hard and score a goal so that I can contribute to our team’s win.

MF #15 ARITA Keito (Kawasaki Frontale U-18)
We spent a lot of time pressuring our opponent today and scored many goals so that was good. Personally, I was pretty nervous, because it was my first game with the national team. Having said that, I was able to display my strengths by assisting many attacks. I also found some tasks to work on. Since we have another match to play, I’d like to prepare well to get a good result.

Schedule

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

UAE Football Cup

Tournament Period: 26 February 2018 - 2 March 2018
For Tournament Information