UAE Football Cup 3rd Match vs U-17 Bahrain National Team
2 March 2018 (Fri.) Kick-off 16:00 (Local Time) Playing Time 90min.(45min.×2)
The complex of UAE FA (Dubai/UAE)

U-17 Japan National Team 14-1 (4-1, 10-0) U-17 Bahrain National Team

Scores
9' FUJIO Shota (U-17 Japan National Team)
10' MIYAGI Ten (U-17 Japan National Team)
23' KIMURA Seiji (U-17 Japan National Team)
33' YAMAMOTO Rihito (U-17 Japan National Team)
44' Goal against (U-17 Bahrain National Team)
47' FUJIO Shota (U-17 Japan National Team)
55' SAITO Koki (U-17 Japan National Team)
60' SAITO Koki (U-17 Japan National Team)
68' BABA Seiya (U-17 Japan National Team)
81' BROWNE Noah Kenshin (U-17 Japan National Team)
82' SAITO Koki (U-17 Japan National Team)
85' SAITO Koki (U-17 Japan National Team)
87' Own Goal (U-17 Japan National Team)
88' BROWNE Noah Kenshin (U-17 Japan National Team)
90' BROWNE Noah Kenshin (U-17 Japan National Team)

Starting Line-ups
GK: ITAHASHI Yosei
DF: HATA Taiga, BABA Seiya, KIMURA Seiji, HASHIMOTO Shuya
MF: MATSUDA Eitaro, IWAMOTO Sho, YAMAMOTO Rihito, MIYAGI Ten
FW: FUJIO Shota, SAITO Koki

Reserves
GK: MITSUI Daiki
DF: HANDA Riku, IWAI Ryuji, ARITA Keito, YAMASAKI Taichi
MF: MATSUMOTO Nagi, KOBAYASHI Natsuki
FW: BROWNE Noah Kenshin, YAMAZAKI Ryosuke

Substitutions
HT MATSUDA Eitaro → ARITA Keito
HT KIMURA Seiji → KOBAYASHI Natsuki
55' FUJIO Shota → BROWNE Noah Kenshin
55' HASHIMOTO Shuya → IWAI Ryuji
57' YAMAMOTO Rihito → MATSUMOTO Nagi
78' HATA Taiga → HANDA Riku

Match Report

In their final match of the UAE Football Cup, U-17 Japan National Team faced U-17 Bahrain National Team, who has not earned any points in this competition thus far. Seven minutes into the match, Japan created a chance right after they came close to conceding a goal from their own mistake. FUJIO Shota got to the end of a cross delivered by MIYAGI Ten from the left side, successfully converting the opportunity with his header. In the 10th minute, Miyagi dribbled up the field before unleashing a shot from long-distance to give Japan a two goal lead. Japan would keep their momentum going as KIMURA Seiji scored their third goal off of a corner-kick in the 23rd minute, and YAMAMOTO Rihito calmly converted a goal in the 33rd minute after he received the ball in the penalty area. Japan would concede a goal in the 44th minute from a penalty kick, but entered half-time with a comfortable three-goal lead.

The second half saw a goal rush for the Japanese side. Fujio started the scoring in the 47th minute, followed by SAITO Koki in the 55th minute. Just five minutes later, Saito dribbled through the left side before scoring Japan’s seventh goal. The Bahraini players became demoralised with the number of goals they were conceding, but Japan never stopped attacking. Captain BABA Seiya scored in the 68th minute, followed by BROWNE Noah Kenshin in the 81st minute. Japan topped off the competition with a 14 goal victory.

U-17 Russia National Team drew with U-17 UAE National Team 1-1. As a result, Japan won the UAE Football Cup with seven points from two wins and a draw.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

ARIMA Kenji, Coach of U-17 Japan National Team
Our players displayed no fear of failure during this trip. Their positive attitude when facing a challenge is the biggest achievement of all. The team shared a mutual understanding throughout the course. In defence they kept high pressure to challenge the opponents, while our offence made good observation in making their decisions. Both the offence and the defence kept a good distance between each other to possess the ball and score many goals. They played tenaciously and never gave up even when facing a team like U-17 Russia who had the physical advantage. The players managed to score the equaliser against the opponent’s retreated defence during injury time to grab the much-needed point. I also like to point out how they faced teams like U-17 UAE and U-17 Bahrain, who came out showing no fear of fouling to stop us. They adjusted well by moving the ball around and moving themselves to create chances. However, they still lack quality in passing and ball control, and I want them to be more detail oriented. Once they go back to their clubs, I want them to feed off of this trip and implement what they learned in their day-to-day trainings. They need to heighten their fundamentals, and then build their strengths on top of it.

Last of all, I’m grateful to all the staffs of respective teams and families for understanding and supporting these players to join this trip. Thank you.

DF #3 HASHIMOTO Shuya (Ichiritsu Funabashi High School)
This trip reminded me of what my weaknesses are. I need to improve on my trapping skills, kicking, and how I prepare myself before receiving the ball. I will like to focus on all these things during practice, once I return to my club. I was able to display my strengths by penetrating the flanks in many occasions, but I still need to heighten both the quality and quantity of those attacks. In one-on-one situations, I was able to win most of it, so I’d like to keep improving on it to make it one of my strengths as well. I will utilise the experience I gained throughout this trip and implement them in my daily routines.

MF #7 YAMAMOTO Rihito (Tokyo Verdy Youth)
The team improved through matches against opponents who mainly focused on defence, and it was great that we managed to score many goals from combinations in the last game against Bahrain. Personally, I felt the need to improve my quality of last passes and shots. My left foot, which is one of my strengths, showed its effectiveness at this level. I’d like to work on my tasks while improving my strengths even more, so that I’ll be able to join the national team again.

FW #10 SAITO Koki (Yokohama FC Youth)
It’s been a while since I got called up to the national team, so I’m very pleased to be back again. We needed to score many goals today, and that might have become a burden for me, as I wasn’t able to find my rhythm in the first half. We told ourselves to play our usual game regardless of who we are facing, and as a result we were able to score many goals in the second half. Even though I managed to score goals today, I also made many mistakes and felt the need to gain more physical strength. I would like to return to my team and train so that I can become a better player.

FW #11 MIYAGI Ten (Kawasaki Frontale U-18)
I am very happy that I am selected into the national team. Going into the match, we knew that we had to score many goals to win the tournament. But our game was heavily influenced by how our opponents played, and couldn’t score much goals in the first half. Coach Arima told us to give all we got in the second half, and that helped us to play our game and score many goals. During this trip, we experienced how strong players abroad played the fifty-fifty balls and how aggressively they applied pressure. It was something we don’t see often in Japan, so I felt the need to always keep that in mind once I go back to my club, and implement what I learned during this trip.

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