Training Match vs Jubilo Iwata
2015-9-24 (Thu.) - 16:00   Playing Time: 90min. (45min. ×2)
Yamaha Stadium (Iwata City, Shizuoka)

U-18 Japan National Team   3-0 (2-0, 1-0)   Jubilo Iwata

Scores
8'   SAKAI Daisuke (PSO) (U-18 Japan National Team)
15'   OGAWA Koki (U-18 Japan National Team)
87'   IWASAKI Yuto (U-18 Japan National Team)

1st Half
GK: HIROSUE Riku
DF: FUJITANI So, TOMIYASU Takehiro, NAKAYAMA Yuta, FUNAKI Kakeru
MF: DOAN Ritsu, SAKAI Daisuke, SASAKI Takumi, KUBOTA Kazune
FW: YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa, OGAWA Koki

2nd Half
GK: YAMAGUCHI Rui
DF: IWATA Tomoki, NODA Hiroki, MACHIDA Koki, URATA Itsuki
MF: IWASAKI Yuto, SUZUKI Tokuma, MORISHIMA Tsukasa, TAKAGI Akito
FW: ICHIMI Kazunari, OGAWA Koki

Substitutes
60'   HIROSUE Riku → YAMAGUCHI Rui
65'   OGAWA Koki → KUBOTA Kazune

Match Report

U-18 Japan National Team played a training match against Jubilo Iwata on 24 September to prepare for the  AFC U-19 Championship 2016 Qualifiers.

Japan struck first on 8th minute. Midfielder DOAN Ritsu fed a through pass to midfielder SASAKI Takumi, who ran into the box. Sasaki attempted a shot and was fouled by a Jubilo defender to earn a penalty. Midfielder SAKAI Daisuke made the penalty shot to give Japan a lead. And then in the 15th minute, from a right corner kick, Doan launched an accurate cross and OGAWA headed it into the goal. Japan led 2-0 at halftime.

Having changed several players to enter the second half, Japan made passing mistakes and gave the opponents attacking chances. But as they endured the tough period, forward ICHIMI Kazunari robbed the ball from a tenacious defence in the Jubilo territory and penetrated near the goal. Midfielder IWASAKI Yuto, who received the ball from Ichimi running into the area, took a shot with composure, looking at the whole situation. The shot went into the Jubilo goal mouth and Japan ended up winning 3-0.

After the game, Jubilo's KAWABE Hayao, who competed in the AFC U-19 Championship last year as a Japan National Team player, visited the Japan team rocker room to encourage the players, who would battle in the qualifying soon.

Players' Comments

NAKAYAMA Yuta (Kashiwa Reysol)
We have little time until our first game in the qualifying. Our opponents today were worth playing against and the environments were great, so it was the best day for us to put up our performance. As a result, we came on top 3-0, but we still need to develop our contents and found some issues to fix. So we want to work on those from tomorrow's practice.

Each one of us needs to be conscious about what he has to do for the team and hopefully we can enter the qualifying with the best condition both physically and mentally.

YAMAGUCHI Rui (FC Lorient/France)
Not just individually, but the entire team was able to have good preparation to come in the game. I think that we came up with a good result and content, so we want to win another training match and the first game of the tournament as well. We want to overwhelm the opponents with our aggressive plays.

KUBOTA Kazune (Kashima Antlers)
As the Asian qualifying is getting closer, we played with the image of playing an official game. We could score from a penalty early on, but we would lose the ball in the midfield and weren't on the same page in our passing and connections.

Defensively, we weren't tight enough against the ball carriers and weren't able to reduce the options for the opponents, so we would allow them to kick long balls and lateral passes so easily. I think that both offensively and defensively we still have rooms to improve in our connections, so we want to fix them as much as we can before we get in the qualifying.

ICHIMI Kazunari (Otsu High School)
In terms of the speed of the plays and battling for the ball, it was a good simulation for us toward the Asian qualifying. As the team, I think that it became our confidence that we scored three while we held them to zero goals and won. We want to be unified and have good preparations.

Schedule

Note: Training and Training Match held in Japan are opened to public.
Note: The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.