The 24th All Japan Youth Futsal Tournament (Vermont Cup) was held from January 4th, with 48 teams (2 from Hokkaido) representing various prefectures across Japan, primarily at Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo.
Kashima Antlers Junior Tsukuba (hereinafter "Antlers Tsukuba") participated as the Ibaraki Prefecture representative. This is their first time participating in this national tournament, having defeated the Kashima Antlers Junior team, which won the national championship two years ago and was runner-up last year, in the prefectural qualifying tournament.
Their first opponent was Kumamoto Prefecture's representative, Nakahara SCF. The team showed some stiffness typical of a first match and faced several dangerous counterattacks, but goalkeeper Taishi Nemoto made some fine saves to weather the storm. Gradually, they gained rhythm, with Koki Sasuma at the center of the midfield.
Two minutes into the match (playing time; the clock stops when the ball is out of play), Sasuma broke through on the right side and passed to Yu Funahashi in the center, who scored directly, giving them the lead. After Sasuma scored an additional goal with a central breakthrough, Satoyoshi Maeda, Funahashi, Shosei Takagi, and Gakuto Tsushima also scored. They finished the first half, and in the second half, Takahiro Tada and Soshi Kofuda also scored. Thanks to the efforts of the defense, led by goalkeeper Hiroto Fukushima, they won 15-0 with a clean sheet.
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For the summer national tournament, our start to the first match wasn't great. Even though there were other team's matches before ours, I told the players to visualize their own performance and enter the first match with full concentration. Despite that, there was some stiffness, and it was a big deal that we were able to overcome several dangerous situations thanks to GK Nemoto's fine saves. We scored, but I also told them to be mindful of balance to avoid conceding goals afterward and to continue with aggressive attacking. The break between the first and second matches was long, but I instructed them to take snacks and rest, and in that regard, despite the high score in the first match, they didn't get careless and were able to enter the game. Their condition and motivation are high for tomorrow as well, so we will do our best to maintain today's momentum.
On the 5th, the remaining 1 match of the preliminary league and, if they advance to the knockout stage, the Round of 16 will be held.
Highlights of the Vermont Cup 24th All Japan Youth Futsal Tournament are available here (JFA-TV)