The 24th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship have final eight teams #football

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 11:53:58 +0900

The 24th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship now have the final eight teams after eight second-round games of 4 January.

Pick-up Match 1

Hooh High School (Kyushu 2/Kagoshima) 2-0 (2-0, 0-0) Fukui Senior High School (Hokushinetsu 2/Fukui)

In a matchup between Hooh High School and Fukui Senior High School, Hooh struck first in the 3rd minute, when MASUDA Rena fed a free kick up front and INOWAKI Akane netted it into the goal. Hooh kept attacking afterwards with the collective plays with their pair up front and players in the sides. Their shot they fired in the 8th minute barely went left of the goal, and another Inowaki hit the cross bar in the 16th. Hooh also created a chance from the left side into the box. In the 26th minute, they earned a penalty and Masuda connected it to finally widen their lead.

But after halftime, there was a momentum shift. Fukui Senior consumed more players in the front court trying to get the ball and overwhelmed Hooh with simple attacks from the sides. Fukui Senior allowed Hooh to have a dangerous shot from a counter attack on 61st minute, but it was actually the only shot they let the opponents have in the second half. Fukui Senior took four shots, which was double as in the first half, and kept surging toward the Hooh goal. Yet they weren't able to create decisive chances and score one. After all, Fukui Senior were eliminated in the second round for the third straight year while Hooh got one win shy of making it to the final four round for the first time in seven years.

Match details (Japanese version only)

Pick-up Match 2

Bunkyo High School Attached to Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University (Chugoku 2/Hiroshima) 0-5 (0-3, 0-2) Kamimura Gakuen High School（Kyushu 1/Kagoshima)

At Goshikidai sports park's sub field, Bunkyo High School Attached to Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University took on Kamimura Gakuen High School. Kamimura Gakuen made their first shot for a goal, when they connected passed before the Hiroshima Bunkyo goal and HASHITANI Suguri fired a shot into the left corner of the goal in the 1st minute. Hiroshima Bunkyo, however, didn't get down and they attacked on the Kamimura Gakuen goal, capitalizing on individual skills of players like ITO Reina and KANDA Wakaho. In the 10th minute, Kanda found a space before the Kamimura goal, but Kamimura goalkeeper NAKAHARA Saaya jumped out and save it.

In the 24th minute, Kamimura Gakuen midfielder OGAWA Ai volleyed a right corner kick to expand their lead. Kamimura Gakuen moved OSAJIMA Ayaka, who usually play as a midfielder, up to the front line, and used her as a drag against Hiroshima Bunkyo, who tried to activate their offence. Then Kamimura Gakuen added another goal when YOSHIDA Eri headed a free kick into the goal in the stoppage time.

While Hiroshima Bunkyo's KAWAI Mizuki fired a free kick but it hit the cross bar in the 52nd minute, Kamimura Gakuen continued to their ability to put their shots into the goal. In the 61st minute, WATANABE Rena half-volleyed the ball that was relayed by her teammate after a cross from outside for a score, and then in the 72nd minute, SONODA Yuna didn't miss a clearing mistake by the opponents and put it into the goal. Kamimura Gakuen scored all the five goals by different players and clinched a round-of-eight round berth.

Match details (Japanese version only)

The four quarterfinal games will be played on 6 January.

Coach and Players' Comments

YONESATO Hinata (Hooh High School/Kagoshima)
We played better from early in the first round, so we tried to do the same today. We were able to score first and it gave us some breathing room. We were mostly attacking early, but the momentum shifted to the opponents afterwards and we had to endure it. We have to think of how we are supposed to play when our opponents have advantage offensively and we have to play passively, and plus we still need to work on our skills. Our next game might be another tough game, but we came in here knowing it, so we would just like to play patiently.

KAKUNO Yuko (Fukui Senior High School/Fukui)
We gave up the first goal to the opponents early, but it was a free kick and we could switch our mindset trying to get us a goal. We were down by two goals in the second half, so we tried to score one back first and get the ball from their territory with our attacking mindset. We have many attacking players who are first-year and second-year students, we played with the thought that we the seniors would cover behind them. I thought that if we'd score one, we'd get some momentum back. But we gave everything we had out there and right now, we only have refreshed feelings.

MATSUKI Toshihiro, Coach (Bunkyo High School Attached to Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University/Hiroshima)
It's a complete loss. It was disappointing that we gave up the first goal from a restart, but our players really did their best. I thought that we would play with no problems no matter who we'd play against. We have some national-level players, and didn't think our team was behind any teams technically. In fact, we did bring the ball and threat their goal, but I felt we still needed to work on actually making them into the goal. I feel sorry for our players because I wasn't able to correct our defensive issues. We are going back to Hiroshima and will try to raise our team level.

HASHITANI Suguri (Kamimura Gakuen High School/Kagoshima)
The connection between our players have gotten smoother and we played better than in yesterday's game. When we didn't play so well, our players talked to each other, didn't get ratted and regrouped. Set plays are one of our weapons and long shots by our offensive players are another. Before, we struggled to make them, but we did today. Once we entered this tournament, we started our engines. We would like to play in our rhythm more going forward.