JENESYS 2018 Japan-Mekong U-17 Football Exchange Tournament
2nd Match vs U-17 Myanmar National Team
Sat. 6 October 2018 Kick-off 14:00 (Japan time) Match duration 90mins (45mins x2)
J-Village Field No.1 (Fukushima)

U-17 Japan National Team 3-1 (2-1, 1-0) U-17 Myanmar National Team

Scores
1' AYUKAWA Shun (U-17 Japan National Team)
39' WADA Aiki (U-17 Japan National Team)
41' goal against (U-17 Myanmar National Team)
90' FUJIO Shota (U-17 Japan National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: UEDA Itsuki
DF: AITSUBO Shuto, TAKAHASHI Yusho, SUMI Seiga, KANO Kanato
MF: TAKADA Soya, HOKAZONO Ryuichi, HONDA Fuchi, AYUKAWA Shun
FW: WAKATSUKI Yamato, WADA Aiki

Reserves
GK: MITSUI Daiki
DF: HASHIMOTO Shuya, OMORI Rio, NISHIO Ryuya
MF: OHORI Ryonosuke, KOBAYASHI Natsuki, MATSUMURA Yuta
FW: FUJIO Shota

Substitutions
HT' WAKATSUKI Yamato → FUJIO Shota
HT' HONDA Fuchi → KOBAYASHI Natsuki
80' KANO Kanato → NISHIO Ryuya
80' AYUKAWA Shun → MATSUMURA Yuta

Match Report

Day two of the JENESYS 2018 Japan-Mekong U-17 Football Exchange Tournament was held on Saturday 6 October, where the U-17 Japan National Team faced the U-17 Myanmar National Team.

The match was full of action from the early minutes as Japan applied aggressive pressure from their front line. Forward WAKATSUKI Yamato (Kiryu Daiichi High School) forced a turnover deep in the opposing territory before sending a pass to AYUKAWA Shun (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth), who took on the goalkeeper one-on-one and calmly converted the opportunity to give Japan the early lead. With momentum on their side, Japan sought for more chances to extend their lead, but led by their goalkeeper, the Myanmar defence line showcased great efforts to keep Japan away from their goal. The Japanese offence line also started to show flaws in their combinations and lacked quality at the final third. Their attacking efforts did prevail in the 39th minute when Wakatsuki posted up to drop the ball to WADA Aiki (Yokkaichi Chuo Technical High School) who captured the goal with his direct shot to double his side’s lead. However, just a minute later, Japan lost the ball in their defensive end and allowed Myanmar to send a cross into the middle, where their forward struck a header. Japanese goalkeeper UEDA Itsuki (Zweigen Kanazawa U-18) managed to block the initial shot, but the loose ball was converted by the Myanmar side, and the match entered halftime with a score of 2-1.

Japan continued to take the initiative in the second half but struggled to find ways to break the opposing goal line. In the 90th minute, FUJIO Shota (Cerezo Osaka U-18) scored the long-awaited goal to make the final score 3-1 as Japan marked their second consecutive victory ahead of their match against the U-17 Vietnam National Team.

Players' Comments

GK #12 UEDA Itsuki (Zweigen Kanazawa U-18)
In today’s match, we gave up the ball several times to allow our opponents to counter attack and there were also scenes where our transitions were too slow. These are some key aspects we must improve on. Although we entered the match really well and score the opening goal, we conceded a goal from our own build-up, so we must be able to prepare ourselves quicker at the back line and play to keep a clean sheet in our next match.

DF #20 SUMI Seiga (Nagoya Grampus U-18)
We managed to score the opening goal and take control of the match today, but we also conceded a goal from our own mistakes. It reminds us that we still have long ways to go as a team. Also, we lacked intensity to win the ball and our transitions were slow today, so we must look back into our fundamentals and heighten our standards of the game.

MF #16 AYUKAWA Shun (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
The fact that we managed to force a turnover and initiate a counter attack to score a goal was a great way to enter the match. However, we conceded a goal before halftime and it shows that we lacked concentration towards the end of the first half. Especially for me, because we conceded from a player that I was supposed to be marking. I couldn’t get myself involved with the ball as much and my first touches were a bit off today, so I hope to make the adjustments ahead of our next match so that we can win the title.

Schedule

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

JENESYS 2018 Japan-Mekong U-17 Football Exchange Tournament

Tournament Dates: Fri. 5 - Mon. 8 October
Tournament Information