U-20 Japan National Team　AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers
Group J First Match vs U-22 Philippines National Team
19 July 2017(Wed.) Kick-off 15:30 Playing Time 90min.（45min.×2）
National Olympic Stadium（Phnom Penh, Cambodia）

U-20 Japan National Team　8-0（5-0, 3-0）U-22 Philippines National Team

Scores
10'　MIYOSHI Koji（U-20 Japan National Team）
23'　KOMATSU Ren（U-20 Japan National Team）
29'　KOMATSU Ren（U-20 Japan National Team）
31'　MORISHIMA Tsukasa（U-20 Japan National Team）
42'　KOMATSU Ren（U-20 Japan National Team）
46'　KOMATSU Ren（U-20 Japan National Team）
83'　NAKASAKA Yuya（U-20 Japan National Team）
89'　ITO Hiroki（U-20 Japan National Team）

Starting Line-ups
GK：YAMAGUCHI Louis Takaji Julien
DF：FUJITANI So, TATSUTA Yugo KOGA Taiyo, SAKAI Daisuke
MF：MIYOSHI Koji, HARIGAYA Takeaki HARA Teruki, MORISHIMA Tsukasa
FW：HATATE Reo, KOMATSU Ren

Reserves
GK：KOJIMA Ryosuke, HATANO Go
DF：YANAGI Takahiro, ITAKURA Kou, NAKAYAMA Yuta, FUNAKI Kakeru
MF：TAKAGI Akito, ICHIMARU Mizuki, ITO Hiroki, ENDO Keita
FW：NAKASAKA Yuya, TAGAWA Kyosuke

Substitutions
HT　  HARA Teruki → ITO Hiroki
64'　  HATATE Reo → NAKASAKA Yuya
85'　  MIYOSHI Koji → TAKAGI Akito

Match Report

The AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers have finally commenced and U-20 Japan National Team faced U-22 Philippines in their first match of the tournament.

Strong rain started to pour from the beginning of the match, but the Japanese attackers tallied plenty of goals from the first half. The opening goal came just after 10 minutes into the game. After receiving the ball in the middle of the attacking third, MORISHIMA Tsukasa laid if off brilliantly to MIYOSHI Koji on the right and the Japanese midfielder fired a dazzling shot to the left-top corner with his right foot to give Japan the early lead.

Starting as a left fullback in today’s match SAKAI Daisuke was instrumental in creating chances on the left flank. Then, in the 23rd minute, through a exchange of passes, Morishima on the left threaded a direct quick cross that was met by KOMATSU Ren at the near post with his right foot to score his first goal for U-20 Japan and the second goal of the match.

Scoring tally continued for the Japanese squad. In the 29th minute, Komatsu extended the lead to 3-0 after reacting to the loose ball and dodging the challenge of defenders inside the box to slot home a grounder to the back of the net. After 31st minutes, Komatsu gained control of ball from a goalmouth scramble to square a neat pass to onrushing Morishima on the left. Then the Japanese international struck home to further stretch the advantage to 4-0.

Just before halftime, HATATE Reo and HARIGAYA Takeaki combined superbly to beat the Philippine defence before Komatsu dashing in front of the goal netted home another goal to score a hat-trick on his debut of U-20 Japan National Team to end the stunning first half with a 5-0 lead.

Japan continued to dominate the match with the same attacking flair in the second half. Just after the break, Sakai on the right send in an incisive cross with pace right in front of the goal, where Komatsu who already tallied three goals just in the first half added another with a right-footer to score his fourth and extend the lead to 6-0 for his side in the 46th minute.

Thereafter, the young Japanese internationals struggled to find the back of the net, but towards the end of the match, second-half substitute NAKASAKA Yuya also making his debut in the U-20 National team was put clean through by Morishima and fired in a superb goal with his left foot in the 83rd minute. Last of the goal tally came in the 89th minute, when TAKAGI Akito who subbed in for Miyoshi centred a fine cross in front of the goal. ITO Hiroki met the cross with a diving header and put an end to an important opening match of the tournament with a stunning 8-0 rout.

Match Report

Players' Comments

DF #2 FUJITANI So (Vissel Kobe)
There is a huge difference between winning and losing the opening match of the tournament. I am simply glad that we were able to secure a win today. However, after scoring our third goal, we started to make simple mistakes and failed to convert our scoring chances. Such mistakes, carelessness or a lack of concentration will increase the risk of conceding goals. Thus, I believe we have to address those issues and not make the same errors again. We will take advantage of what we learned today for the second match as well.

DF #10 SAKAI Hiroki (Oita Trinita)
In the short tournament, the first match becomes very important. There are few players who made their first appearance in the national squad. I didn’t want them to feel nervous and prevent them from playing their usual game. Thus, I decided to encourage them and at the same time thought through what I can do for the team. In the opening match, we scored early and managed to play advantageously. Furthermore, it was important that we earned the full three points. However, we need to improve the quality of our plays as well. We will make a good preparation for the second match.

MF #8 MIYOSHI Koji (Kawasaki Frontale)
I kept in mind the importance of how we start off the opening game and took shots aggressively to score the opening goal for the team. Strong rain and artificial turf were some of the differences in the pitch conditions that we are accustomed to playing at, but every player fought hard to score as many goals as possible. We only have a one-day rest between the games in the tournament. Making a good preparation will be vital, but first we will focus our efforts on the coming Cambodia game.

FW #13 NAKASAKA Yuya (Vissel Kobe)
I am glad we won the first match. I am also pleased that I scored a goal, but found few issues that I need to work on prior to the next match as well. Regardless of the level of our opponents, I believe we need to keep up the same good performance. We only finished our first match of the tournament. Now we need to shift our mind to the second game and make a good preparation as well. The most important thing for the team is to keep winning. Thus, I will do my best for the team if I get the chance to enter the game.

Schedule

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

AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers (Group J)

Date：15 July 2017(Sat.)～23 July 2017(Sun.)
Location：Cambodia

*Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams among all the groups in the qualifiers and hosts China (a total of 16 teams) will participate in the AFC U-23 Championship China 2018.

Fixtures, Results and Tournament Information
AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers - U-20 Japan National Team Squad Members