Academy Report

The Antlers Youth team played their first semi-final match of the Asia Champions Trophy U-18 2015 against the India U18 national team on October 28th at Hang Tuah Stadium in Malaysia.

The semi-finals pit the top two teams from the group stage against each other. Antlers Youth, who finished first in Group B, faced the India U18 national team, who finished second in Group A. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Goa, India, but due to circumstances on the opposing team's side, it was held at Frenz United's home ground in Malacca, Malaysia.

The youth players arrived early on the 27th and held their pre-match practice at the stadium in the afternoon. During practice, it suddenly started to rain.On the match day, the 28th, the rain had stopped and the game was played under cloudy skies.

Antlers Youth starting lineup

Starting lineup
Aito Ishikawa, Takumi Toda, Koyo Matsuura, Hiroki Machida, Shingo Nakada, Kenta Chiba, Daiki Hirato, Yuto Osato, Takanobu Nishimoto, Toshiya Tanaka, Yuriya Yoshioka
Substitutions
Takanobu Nishimoto → Yuki Shikama, Yuriya Yoshioka → Yuki Kakita, Toshiya Tanaka → Tsubasa Sudo
Bench players
Kenta Miyamoto, Jun Nakano, Yuya Oki, Renato WatanabeIn the 18th minute of the first half, Matsuura scored the opening goal from a corner kick, but in the very next minute, the opponent broke through on the side and scored from a cross, equalizing the score. This was the opponent's only real chance. The first half ended 1-1.In the second half, Antlers Youth created many chances, but were unable to score, with Kakita's shot hitting the crossbar. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Comment from Coach Koji Kumagai
"It was a tough match with the team not in the best condition after arriving the day before, but the players fought well. We managed to secure the minimum required draw. We didn't give the opponent many chances and even scored an away goal. We want to prepare well for the match on November 4th after returning to Japan."

At the same venue, at 8:15 PM, the other semi-final match, a sibling showdown between Frenz A and Frenz B, took place. Frenz B scored first, but Frenz A came back to win 2-1.

Antlers Youth's second semi-final match will be held on November 4th at Kashima Stadium, starting at 3 PM. The youth team will advance to the final if they win or draw 0-0. The players are scheduled to arrive at Haneda Airport on the evening of the 29th.