2018 the 25th International Youth Tournament of Vaclav Jezek
1st Match vs U-17 Ukraine National Team
Tue. 21 August 2018 Kick-off 17:00 (local time) Match duration 90mins (45mins x2)
Trebechovice Stadium, Czech Republic

U-17 Japan National Team 1-0 (1-0, 0-0) U-17 Ukraine National Team

Scores
8' ODA Yutaro (U-17 Japan National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: SUZUKI Zion
DF: NAKAMURA Takumi, KIMURA Seiji, BANGNAGANDE Kashif, BABA Seiya
MF: ODA Yutaro, TAKADA Soya, MATSUMOTO Nagi, YAMAMOTO Rihito
FW: SAKURAGAWA Soromon, YAMAZAKI Ryosuke

Reserves
GK: UEDA Itsuki
DF: HATA Taiga, SUMI Seiga
MF: INOUE Miki, MATSUOKA Daiki, TSUKUI Takumi
FW: KURIBARA Ibrahim Junior, SOMENO Itsuki, MATSUHASHI Yuan

Substitutions
71' TAKADA Soya → MATSUHASHI Yuan
89' YAMAZAKI Ryosuke → KURIBARA Ibrahim Junior

Match Report

On Tuesday 21 August, the U-17 Japan National Team played their first match of the 25th International Youth Tournament of Vaclav Jezek against the U-17 Ukraine National Team. Ukraine’s strengths lie in their solid defence and their ability to breakout quick attacks, as they were seen sending simple long balls to utilise their strong physiques. The match had been expected to be highly contested.

With both teams entering their first match of the tournament, they both showcased a shaky start. However, Japan didn’t allow their opponents to play freely, as they kept a quick transition between offence and defence. Ukraine did manage to force turnovers but couldn’t find their rhythm as they struggled to cope with the quick pressure applied by Japan. In the 8th minute, Japan’s YAMAZAKI Ryosuke (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth) responded well to the ball laid down by SAKURAGAWA Soromon (Jef United Ichihara Chiba U-18) and dribbled into the penalty area. He was stopped by Ukraine’s defenders, but the loose ball was picked-up by Japan’s TAKADA Soya (Omiya Ardija Youth), who dished the ball to ODA Yutaro (Vissel Kobe U-18) in the right side. Oda made a cut into the centre and successfully scored the opening goal with his left foot.

Japan managed to score early in the match and got their momentum going to build a good rhythm. However, the first half ended without any additional goals due to the strong defensive efforts showcased by Ukraine.

Japan continued to take control in the second half as they created many chances. In the 13th minute, Sakuragawa responded to a cross delivered by NAKAMURA Takumi (Higashi Fukuoka High School) to strike the ball with his header, but the ball sailed over the crossbar. Several chances came Japan’s way, but the tenacious efforts displayed by the Ukraine side prevented Japan from scoring additional goals. Conversely, Japan faced their biggest threat in the 32nd minute when Ukraine created a break away from a counter-attack, but goalkeeper SUZUKI Zion (Urawa Reds Youth) came to the rescue with a superb save. The match ended with a final score of 1-0, giving Japan their first win of the tournament, but it was clear that the team had many issues to sort out ahead of their next match.

Players’ Comments

GK #1 SUZUKI Zion (Urawa Reds Youth)
I played in this tournament last year and I am very happy to be back to this wonderful competition again this year. Playing in the first match is always difficult, but our offence attacked aggressively from the beginning of the match to get us off to a good start. Throughout the match, we had very few moments getting attacked, but it was good that I was able to keep a good level of concentration as a goalkeeper. As a result, we managed to keep a clean sheet that gives us great confidence ahead of our next match. We won the title last year and would like to prepare ourselves well to defend our title this year.

DF #2 NAKAMURA Takumi (Higashi Fukuoka High School)
First of all, I am very happy to be called-up to the U-17 Japan National Team. In this trip, I’d like to work on some of the tasks I found during my previous tour with the U-18 Japan National Team in Portugal, and I hope that I can find more things to work on to improve myself. In this match against Ukraine, I was named as the team captain, but I feel like I managed to play just as I normally play without being too anxious about fulfilling the responsibilities as the captain. I made some overlapping runs and delivered numbers of crosses, but none of them ended with a goal. So, in the next match, I will try to get myself more involved in our team’s goals.

FW #11 YAMAZAKI Ryosuke (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth)
I entered the match with a strong intention to earn good result as a starting forward. We managed to enter the match by applying aggressive pressure from the frontline and scored the opener early in the match. However, at a personal level, I had many chances throughout the match but couldn’t convert them. I found many aspects that I need to improve so I will make the adjustments as soon as possible. We will continue to work hard as a team to win our next match.

Schedule

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