NEWSNews

2017.4.16[Academy]

[U-15 Fukagawa] 5th day of France expedition

On the second day of the tournament, which is the fifth day of the France expedition, two matches will be held in the morning and two matches in the afternoon.

The first opponent is Nantes, a prestigious development club that has produced former French national team players such as Makelele and Platini.
This will be an important match to advance in the qualifying league.
Nantes will change their attacking lineup after taking the lead in the early stages.
In the second half, there were many passive plays due to the opponent's intense pressure, and we lost the initiative with 2 goals conceded. We couldn't convert the chances for additional goals and ended up with a losing start.

The second consecutive match will be against Slovakia's Dunajska.
Victory with a score of 2-0, while making use of the experience from the first match.
To advance to the top league, it depended on the results of Rennes and Nantes, but Rennes won, so we will be competing in the 3rd league from the afternoon.
Although we aimed for victory, it was a disappointing result. However, the players will switch their mindset and prepare for the afternoon match.

The third match is against the neighboring town's selected team, Grand Seno.
Despite winning 2-0, we were unable to fully demonstrate our play as Fukagawa. We will confirm what we need to do and prepare for the next match.
During the meeting, we heard the thoughts of the interpreters about this tournament.
"Because everyone is seen as Japanese, their plays and every single action are thought to be what it means to be Japanese."
And in French clubs, there are professional contracts from the age of 14, so for example, there are cases where the contract ends because they were not good in this tournament.
So, when I watch everyone in Fukagawa, the determination of each play is different compared to the 14-year-old playing in France.
Now, while I am active as a Japanese person in France, there have been times when I couldn't communicate with those around me and it was tough.
Even in such times, I am telling people around me, "Japan is so wonderful."
So, I'm really looking forward to everyone.
I want to see a game where I give my all.
There were moments when I listened to the interpreter's words and shed tears, but it had an impact on the players and staff.

And the opponent for the fourth match was Clairefontaine.
Fukagawa, who couldn't get into the game well, conceded a goal in the first half and the match ended 0-1.
I saw the challenge of always being able to give our best performance.


Today's game was a very frustrating experience.
The staff will continue to have more in-depth meetings and preparations so that the players can grow even a little in the remaining matches.


However, the players have been playing powerful matches, and statements that make us feel the leniency of the standards in Japan are starting to emerge from the players' own voices.
Feeling this difference is a very good stimulus.
We will do our best until the end of the tournament.