NEWSNews

2023.5.20[Academy]

[U-15 Fukagawa] Italy Expedition Day 6

On the morning of the 19th (Friday) of the 6th day of the expedition, some players had sleepy expressions due to the late game time yesterday, but we started the day with our usual morning walk.

After doing gymnastics, we split into groups and held a dance competition. Each person expressed themselves while coming up with ideas, and we were able to see sides of each other that we don't normally see.

Afterwards, preparations for the match continued and the third game of the qualifying league was held at 17:30 local time. The opponent was the strong Swedish team, Malmo FF, which is also the hometown team of player Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

There is no other way to advance to the qualifying league than to win, so naturally, we will be filled with determination.


From the start of the game, we aggressively aim to take the ball from the front and score, but the players of Malmö FF use their high skills to move the ball quickly and it is difficult to press them.

We conceded a goal from a cross from the left side in the 10th minute of the first half.

The situation has become more difficult, but the players will aim for a comeback and encourage each other.

Defensive corrections have increased and ball possession time has also increased with more ball interceptions at a higher position.



As the attack intensified, in the 21st minute of the first half, Soma ARATA was fouled in the penalty area and earned a penalty kick, which was calmly converted by Kanato HATAYAMA to equalize the score at 1-1.



At halftime, we were able to confirm ourselves as a team once again, and in the second half, we were able to play aggressively on both offense and defense from the start.

Obata Tsumugi player received a free kick on the right side in the second half, and the ball kicked by Obata Tsumugi player was passed to Arata player who was free on the far side. We had a chance to score, but the shot missed above the goal and we couldn't turn the game around. After that, we continued to take shots, but we couldn't score.

As we enter additional time, we will increase the number of attackers in order to score another goal and aim for a comeback. However, despite our efforts, we were unable to break through the opponent's strong defense and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

The players were filled with frustration as they narrowly missed their goal of advancing to the top tournament.

The results of the other teams have placed us in 4th place in the group league, and tomorrow we will have a ranking match against Dynamo Kyiv from Ukraine.

Tomorrow will be the last game of this tournament.

We finished our 6th day of activities, switching our mindset to win for the many people who support us.