Academy Report

The day of the first round of the final tournament has arrived.Final Tournament Round 1 vs FC Barcelona
First half 0-2, Second half 0-5, Total 0-7

During warm-ups, we focused on confirming set plays.

The starting lineup was GK Kimura, FP Maeda, Kotanagi, Okano, Ito, Sasaki, and Matsumoto. We applied pressure from the front, not allowing the opponent freedom, and responded with a man-to-man defense.
The opponent also disliked Antlers' pressure and couldn't connect passes freely. However, the flow of the game changed with a single whistle from the referee. After losing the ball due to a call favorable to the opponent and conceding the first goal, we also conceded from a penalty kick, ending the first half 0-2.
In the second half, we hoped for a recovery, but we allowed the opponent to play to their strengths and suffered a complete defeat.
The second half lineup started with GK Kimura, FP Okano, Maeda, Kotanagi, Araki, Matsumoto, and Sasaki. All members played after substitutions from the first half, but we couldn't change the flow of the game.Since we were eliminated in the final tournament, we hastily arranged a round-robin tournament with Malaga (Spain), NFA (Norway), and Liverpool (England), with each match being 25 minutes. However, the match against Liverpool was cancelled due to multiple injuries to their players.

Match results
vs Malaga 0-3
vs NFA 1-0
Scorer: Kobayashi

The starting lineup for the Malaga match was GK Kimura, FP Maeda, Okano, Kotanagi, Sasaki, Araki, and Matsumoto. Ito and Takeda were brought in as substitutes.
Antlers repeatedly gave the ball away poorly, leading to many counter-attack chances for the opponent. We conceded 3 goals, succumbing to the opponent's individual skill, tactical understanding, and high ability. While Antlers could create chances by winning the ball through pressure from the front when things clicked, we squandered many opportunities due to poor final decisions and a lack of precision in passes and shots.The starting lineup for the NFA match was GK Kobayashi, FP Maeda, Kotanagi, Matsumoto, Sasaki, Ito, and Kobayashi. The Norwegian team was thorough in building up play from the backline and connecting passes to construct their game. They deployed tall and skillful players in the backline, occasionally breaking through with individual dribbling ability. Antlers responded to the opponent's wide play by waiting for them to advance, then intensifying their defensive coordination to win the ball. Although Kotanagi's superb shot at the start was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, Kobayashi scored from a counter-attack, leading to a victory.