Eight teams from seven countries around the world are divided into the following two groups to play in the preliminary league.
Group A: China U19 National Team, Real Madrid (Spain), Deportivo Brasil (Brazil), Benfica (Portugal)
Group B: Shandong Luneng, Wolfsburg (Germany), Fort Lauderdale (USA), Kashima Youth
Kashima Youth's first opponent was Shandong Luneng, the host team and team of this facility.
It was an away game in every sense, with little information about the opponent, and it was played in scorching heat with a 9:00 AM kickoff.
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Weifang Cup U19 2016 Group B
vs Shandong Luneng 1-0
Goal scorer: Shinozaki
Starting lineup: Oki, Arakawa, Nakamura, Matsuura, Yuuki, Onuma, Imura, Nishimoto, Idetsu, Maeda, Shinozaki
Substitutes: Makita, Sudo, Sadamitsu, Masuzaki, Arima
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They created several chances from set pieces but couldn't convert, and the first half ended 0-0.
In the 8th minute of the second half, Idetsu broke through on the right wing and delivered a cross that Shinozaki converted with a superb header, giving them the lead.
Ten minutes later, Arakawa's free kick hit the left post and narrowly missed going in, a very close call.
After that, Shandong brought in substitutes up front and pushed forward aggressively. There were a few dangerous moments, but thanks to defender Matsuura's leadership, they didn't concede a goal and won their first match 1-0.
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"I expected it to be a tough match if we conceded the first goal. Since we didn't know much about the opponent, we decided to observe them in the first half and go for the win in the second. From the start of the match, the opponent also seemed to be observing us, and we were able to keep possession. We could have been a bit more aggressive. We went into halftime 0-0 and then took the lead in good form in the second half. The opponent also put pressure on us, but we managed to finish without conceding. In a way, it went according to plan, and it was a match that showed the team's growth."
After lunch, we watched the match between the Chinese National Team and Real Madrid at the Olympic Stadium, which started at 4 PM. We traveled about 40 minutes by bus to the stadium.
It was a ticketed match, and many spectators gathered, filling the main stand.
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Group A
Benfica 0-1 Deportivo Brasil
China National Team 1-1 Real Madrid
Group B
Wolfsburg 5-2 Fort Lauderdale
Tomorrow will be the second group stage match against Wolfsburg.