Academy Report

On April 24th, the TORENO INTERNAZIONALE CALCIO GIOVANILE tournament entered its third day, featuring the first round of the knockout stage. This marks the 24th iteration of the tournament, and the Antlers are garnering attention as the first participants from Asia and Japan. Their match against Chelsea the previous day was prominently featured in the local newspaper, 'il mattino de Padova'.

The top two teams from each group, totaling 16 teams, advanced to the upper bracket. The Antlers, who drew 1-1 with Chelsea in the previous day's match and finished second in Group F on goal difference, faced strong Dutch club Ajax, who topped Group E, at 6:30 PM.

Kashima Antlers 0-2 Ajax

Kashima Starting Lineup: Taiyo Suzuki, Sora Okita, Sosho Kofuda, Yu Funabashi, Taku Saito, Hayato Iida, Saihiro Tada, Sho Shibata, Kai Ishizu, Sho Aoki Takagi, Sora Maeda
Substitutes: Daisuke Magata, Riku Sakurayama, Tatsuya Kiuchi, Hiroto Kanazawa, Teru MiyauchiCoach Morishima's comment: "It was a very disappointing result. In the first half, our defensive shape was solid and we kept a clean sheet, just as we planned in the meeting. In attack, we also had chances from set pieces. In the second half, with the substitutions, there was some confusion in our defense. In attack, we had a shot hit the crossbar from a corner kick, but we couldn't score. The players fought with all their might, but there was a technical difference in the finer details. We have another game tomorrow, so we want to address today's issues and prepare for it."

(Results of the other 7 upper bracket matches on the 24th)
Inter (Italy) 2-0 Juventus (Italy)
Leverkusen (Germany) 6-0 Ilves Tampere (Finland)
Paris Saint-Germain (France) 1-0 Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)
AC Milan (Italy) 4-0 Padova (Italy)
Chelsea (England) 4-1 CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Atalanta (Italy) 2-0 Vicenza (Italy)
Napoli (Italy) 3-1 Club Brugge (Belgium)

Having lost to Ajax, the Antlers will face Italian powerhouse Juventus in the loser's bracket on the 25th.

The lower bracket is being contested by the following 8 teams:
Four Italian teams: AS Roma, AS Cittadella, Abano Calcio, Thermal Calcio, and FC Groningen (Netherlands), Benfica (Portugal), Toronto FC (Canada), FC Midtjylland (Denmark).

From 8:30 PM, a charity dinner hosted by the tournament organizers was held at the Panaramic Hotel. Three Antlers jerseys were provided for an auction to aid an organization supporting children with disabilities. Additionally, a commemorative shield was presented to Mr. Massimo from the tournament organizing committee and Ms. Angela from the local hotel association as a token of gratitude.