After practice, Antlers Youth coach Koji Kumagai and Phnom Penh coach Dary Bouy shook hands and pledged their best efforts.
Afterwards, the Phnom Penh players moved to Kashima Stadium, the match venue, and toured the facilities.
The press conference room set up for the Asia Champions Trophy U-18 2015
On the match day, it was extremely hot. In the match that kicked off at 3 PM, Antlers Youth scored 3 goals in the first half and 2 goals in the second half, winning overwhelmingly by 5-0.
Coach Kumagai:
"The first match is always difficult, but I think this victory will lead to something more. Since it was our first time playing against this opponent, I told the players to understand them as they played. I think the players did well. There were aspects of physical play that we don't experience with Japanese teams. It's a good tournament because we can experience that even away."
Kenta Chiba:
"The team understood the difficulty of the first match. It was good that we won 5-0, but we have an away game soon, so we need to prepare. We lost some battles for the ball and in terms of physicality, and our passing accuracy was low. We need to improve on that."
Coach Dary Bouy:
"Antlers are strong and big, so it was difficult to compete against them. Our plan was to keep the ball well without losing it, increase our possession rate, and not give them chances. I think the long journey for the team to play the match was a good experience, more so than the football tactics. It was hot at 35 degrees Celsius, but Cambodia is the same. We have a lot of experience playing at night, and considering the travel, Kashima had an advantage."
Sodavid In:
"Our play in the first half was not good at all, but I think it improved in the second half. I was satisfied with our game in the second half. I believe all my teammates gave their all."
Antlers Youth's next match is an away game against PVF (Vietnam) on August 12th.