Pick-up Match
Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School vs Cerezo Osaka U-18

The matchday 15 of the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League WEST will be held on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 October. One of the key matchups of this weekend is the contest between Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School (Hyogo) and Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka).

Kobe Koryo, playing this upcoming match at home, have been in better form with winning two and drawing one out of the past five game including the win against Ozu High School (Kumamoto) on the previous matchday. Their strength of having immense stamina is nothing new and they now have added the ability to score goals late in matches, which has helped them compete against notable youth teams of J.League clubs.

In this weekend, they will face second-placed Cerezo Osaka, and coach TANI Junichi expects it to be 'very difficult'. At the same time, “we are happy to play against better-ranked teams at this moment. This is a great opportunity for us to see how much we have improved”, added the coach with anticipation. After this match, the Kobe’s high school side will compete in the regional qualifiers for the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament. They are well motivated to grab points against Cerezo and take the momentum to the tourney.

Meanwhile, Cerezo Osaka, just as it happened on the last matchday, will have coach TAJIMA Kazuki lead the team in place of MURATA Kazuhiro, who is participating a training program in England. Regardless of the coach’s absence, the team just had a perfect win over one of the best high school teams in the nation, Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) last week.

While some of their players are also away from the team to be with the U-16 National Team, aggressive attitude to showcase themselves from the players who are getting playing time now has been working positively and producing good results. They are currently 6 points behind the league leaders Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima). The interim coach Tajima says “in order for us to win the WEST, we have to win all the remaining four matches. Our players’ strong determination to go to the next level will be the key in the end".

Both teams looking to extend their own winning streak go head-to-head at Miki Sogo Bosai Park First Stadium (Hyogo) starting at 13:00.

Coaches' and Player's Comments

TANI Junichi, Coach (Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School)
To get another step away from relegation, we want to make sure to pile up points in this match as well. Cerezo Osaka are one of the in-form teams in the WEST, so it’s important for us not to get outrun both offensively and defensively. And we also need to play smart. It’s impossible to defend well, if you play just based on your senses and feelings. You have to read the situations and react quickly, and if you find a chance to attack, you have to move up aggressively as a team.

When we played against them last time, I felt that not only each individual player’s skill was superior, but also the team as a whole were better than us. Not allowing them to play to their strength, we want to convert the limited chances we will get.

TANIGO Hiroto (Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School)
Our strengths include the ability to run throughout the 90 minutes and defend tenaciously, enabling us to make quick transition to offence. In this match, we want to play with the mindset of “WA-CHU-KYO-DO (meaning joining forces with one shared mindset)” in front of our home fans. The key is whether we can maintain our team effort both in offence and defence throughout the 90 minutes. So I want to run more than anybody else for our win. Whether we can stay in the Premier League or not has been at stake. We want to keep the pride of our school and go out with a must-win mentality.

TAJIMA Kazuki, Assistant Coach (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
Once again we want to make sure to execute our aggressive offence and defence that we have built up for the match of this weekend. We are missing some players for their National U-16 Team activities, but this has been the case since this spring. It has given us more intense competition within the entire team and all we have to do is 'perform our best' with the players we have available. In the last match against Higashi Fukuoka (Cerezo’s 3-0 win), we didn’t have some core players, but the team showed great performance. I don’t think they see it as “the team are missing the key players”. We will just do what we are capable of doing again.

Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School vs Cerezo Osaka U-18
Date：Sat. October 1 (kick-off 13:00)
Venue：Miki Sogo Bosai Park First Stadium (Hyogo)
Directions：Take Shinki Zone Bus Bosai Koen Line from Midorigaoka Station of Kobe Railway Ao Line and get off at Bosai Koen Mae stop

Premier League WEST Matchday 15

10/1
15:00　Gamba Osaka Youth vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth（Gamba Osaka Ground）

10/2
10:00　Oita Trinita U-18 vs Vissel Kobe U-18（Oita Sports Park Daigin Soccer Rugby Field）
11:00　Higashi Fukuoka High School vs Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18（Higashi Fukuoka High School）
11:00　Ozu High School vs Nagoya Grampus U18（Kumamoto Sogo Athletic Park Auxiliary Field）

Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) will play against Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth at home. If the Osaka side fail to win this contest, their chance to win the WEST will be completely eliminated. 

Tenth-placed Oita Trinita U-18 (Oita) are desperate to get points on this matchday against Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo).

The match between eighth-placed Ozu High School (Kumamoto) and Nagoya Grampus U18 trailing Ozu with two points is another interesting matchup. Nagoya have not win any match since the 5th matchday, and they are looking to pay back against the opponents who they lost to 4-3 last time. 

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto) are also just two points behind ninth-placed Nagoya. Kyoto will travel to Fukuoka to face Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) this matchday. Since the 13th matchday, they have been taking on some of the better teams in the league such as Kobe and Gamba Osaka, and this upcoming match is no exception, requiring them to fight through until the end.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

Highlights from Matchday 14

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