2016 SBS CUP International Youth Soccer 2nd Match vs U-18 Shizuoka Selection Team
2016-8-12 (Fri.) - 16:00   Playing Time: 80min. (40min.×2)
Ashitaka Koiki Park Tamokuteki Athletic Field (Numazu/Shizuoka)

U-18 Shizuoka Selection Team　1-1 (1-0, 0-1, PSO 4-2)　U-19 Japan National Team

Score
34'　Goal against (U-18 Shizuoka Selection Team)
79'　YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa (U-19 Japan National Team)

Line-ups
GK: HIROSUE Riku
DF: KOGA Taiyo, HAMA Taiyo, SUGIOKA Daiki, NISHIMOTO Takanobu
MF: KAJIYAMA Kanta, NODA Kazuki, TAKAHASHI Issei, HARIGAYA Takeaki
FW: NAKAMURA Shunta, TAGAWA Kyosuke

Substitutes
GK: KOJIMA Ryosuke
DF: HASEGAWA Takumi
MF: SUGA Daiki, HARA Teruki, YASUI Takuya
FW: IWASAKI Yuto, YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa

HT　TAGAWA Kyosuke → IWASAKI Yuto
53'　TAKAHASHI Issei → HARA Teruki
59'　KAJIYAMA Kanta → SUGA Daiki
59'　NODA Kazuki → YASUI Takuya
77'　NAKAMURA Shunta → YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa

Match Report

Japan's second counterparts of the SBS Cup were Shizuoka Youth. Japan lost 1-0 to Costa Rica in their opening match while they took control of the game. Just as the first match, the Japan squad tried to defend pressing up front in order to score a goal.

Yet despite winning the ball, they struggled to create a goal-scoring opportunity with ineffective passing, supporting, and lacking the speed of decision-making. In the 34th minute, a Japan player lost the ball in the opposing end. Shizuoka sent the ball to space at the left flank and broke down with dribbling before firing a shot off a cross ball. Japan goalkeeper HIROSUE saved the shot, but a Shizuoka player tapped in the deflection to open the scoring before finishing the first half.

In the second half, Japan gradually started having more shots by enhancing their hard-working and attacking pace. Japan's much-awaited equaliser came in the final phase of the match. In the 79th minute, when Japan broke through the right flank, substitute SUGA headed a cross ball. His header was denied by the opponent, but YOSHIHIRA reacted to a loose ball to level the score in the closing minutes of the match. Then, the match went into a penalty shootout.

Japan failed two kicks, while all of the four Shizuoka kickers netted home. Shizuoka Youth won the penalty shootout 4-2, which kept Japan winless in their second tournament match.

Japan will meet the U-19 Slovakia National Team in their third match on Sunday 14 August at Ecopa Stadium.

Players' Comments

NODA Kazuki (Vissel Kobe U-18)
I'm happy to be called up to the U-19 Japan National Team and play a match representing the country. Today's opponents were Japanese players at the same age group, so I went out with a special determination of must-win attitude. But we couldn't play football we are aiming at especially in the first half and attain the desired result. There is still one more match remaining and we get one day off. We will try to refresh and get fully ready for the next match.

TAKAHASHI Issei (Aomori Yamada High School)
I'm happy to have an opportunity to join the national team activity. It's been a very good experience for me to train and play matches at a high level. We will try to improve the issues we've got in the past two matches and get well prepared to finish the tournament with a win over Slovakia.

HIROSUE Riku (Aomori Yamada High School)
Today, we couldn't push up the defensive line in the first half and ended up creating a distance between the lines. And we allowed the opponents to pick up second balls and take the initiative, which led to their goal. On offence, because we couldn't create an initiating point at a high position and end up passing the ball to a player not moving most of the times, each player failed to link up with others. I myself also had some situations where I lost the ball because of low passing quality, so I will try to improve accuracy. I was incapable of seeing the entire picture on the pitch, because I put too much focus on my game throughout the match. I will improve that as well. 

NAKAMURA Shunta (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
We lost the first match, so it was a must-win match today. We couldn't play our game aggressively and failed to create chances in the first half, but had more chances with more aggressive plays in the second half. However, we lost in the penalty shootout, and I also couldn't score a goal. That was disappointing. We will sort out what was good and wasn't, and hopefully finish the tournament with a win in the final match.

Schedule

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