NEWSNews

2018.4.02[Academy]

[U-15 Musashi] 7th day of the Netherlands expedition

Today, three matches of the ranking determination league will be held.
In yesterday's qualifying league, the result was 3 draws and 1 loss, so we aim for our first victory in this tournament.

The first match is against SK Slavia Praag from Czech Republic.
Conceded a goal after a mistake in their own goal area in the 7th minute, and ended the first half without any changes.

In the second half, they aggressively pressed from high positions to steal the ball and created many opportunities to advance towards the goal, but they were unable to hit the target and the game ended 0-1.

The second match is against PEC Zwolle from the Netherlands, which is the second time in this tournament.
In the qualifying league, it was a 0-0 draw, so it's a crucial match that we must win at all costs.
Mariek cut off the opponent's horizontal pass at the 5th minute and drove straight to the goal, scoring the team's first goal of the tournament.
Musashi does not slow down and, in the 8th minute, Mariek crosses from a deep position on the right side, and Taguchi scores an additional goal with a header after a contest with the opponent's goalkeeper, making it 2-0 at halftime.
In the second half, despite facing fierce attacks from the opponent from the beginning, we managed to hold them off with only one goal conceded and secured our first victory of the tournament with a score of 2-1.

And the final match of the tournament is against FC Utrecht from the Netherlands.
Taking control of the game from the start with a fast-paced passing game, while being watched by many local people.
The sea shell followed up after the cross from the right side was deflected by the opponent's defender and scored the opening goal in the 4th minute.
They held on to this score until the end and achieved victory with a 1-0 win.

Watched the finals of the U-12 and U-14 divisions after the match.
U-14 Final Round is AFC Ajax from the Netherlands against Laranja Mecanica from Brazil.
It seems that the player was inspired by the world-class football displayed by players of the same generation.

And closing ceremony.
Each team representative is called and they speak a few words before the trophy presentation.

FC Tokyo's representative, Fujimoto, received the trophy and said, "Oh, thank you!" Laughter and applause erupted from the venue.

The players continued to interact with the local people even after the closing ceremony.

Upon returning to the dormitory and finishing dinner, I encountered the players of Laranja Mecanica, who were about to return to their home country.
We took a photo together in the end and promised to meet again next year.

The schedule for the tournament has ended today.
I will return to Japan tomorrow.