Just a few minutes' walk from our hotel building, there's a very large dining hall. It serves as a cafeteria for Shangdong students and is also the dining venue for the participating teams in this tournament. Tables for 8 teams are secured, making mealtime adjustments smooth. We took a commemorative photo at the request of the staff assigned to us.
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Ambulances and police vehicles were also present at the venue today.
Match results: Benfica 4-2 Fort Lauderdale, Real Madrid 2-3 Shandong
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The China U19 National Team will participate in the AFC U19 Championship Bahrain 2016 in October. They are in a different group from the Japan National Team.
It was a wonderful opportunity to play an official match against a national team on their home turf.
Weifang Cup U19 2016 Group B
vs China U19 National Team
0-0 PK 3-5
Starting players: Oki, Yuki, Nakamura, Matsuura, Arakawa, Konuma, Imura, Nishimoto, Idetsu, Sudo, Shinozaki
Substitutes: Makida, Arima, Masuzaki, Sadamitsu, Ishikawa
Similar to previous matches, it was a battle in the heat. Furthermore, as expected, everything about the match, including the cheering from the spectators and the referee's decisions, made it feel like we were playing on enemy territory.
For a while after the start, we couldn't play our usual game, and several scoring opportunities were created, but led by GK Oki, and defenders Nakamura and Matsuura, we managed to avoid conceding a goal until the water break. After that, we regained our composure, and after about 30 minutes, Kashima Youth took control. Idetsu's shot from a free kick narrowly missed the goal. Furthermore, Shinozaki headed the ball from a corner kick, but unfortunately, it didn't result in a goal, and we couldn't score.
In the second half, the Chinese team created several scoring opportunities, but we didn't concede. Kashima Youth's offense also failed to score against the Chinese goal, ending in a 0-0 draw. The match went to a penalty shootout.
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Many people who watched the match told us that Kashima Youth had played wonderfully as we returned to the hotel.
It was a truly frustrating loss, being so close yet not quite there.
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Comment from Coach Kumagai
"The players fought very well until the end. Unfortunately, the match result was a loss, so I think it's important to find the process from this failure to success. It's not simply a matter of saying that there's something to gain from losing; the players and staff need to work together to take steps towards success and results. Nevertheless, I can see the players gradually growing from their performances so far."
Other semi-final match result: Desportivo Brasil 3-2 Wolfsburg.
Tomorrow will be a rest day, but a official tournament program is scheduled.