After a light warm-up, everyone had breakfast.
During the meeting, we re-confirmed the defensive strategies we had been working on for the past two matches, ensuring everyone was on the same page. Similarly, on the offensive side, we reviewed how to initiate attacks from the wings and how to deliver crosses.
For the match against Köln, we used video to explain the opponent's characteristics in detail, both offensively and defensively, and confirmed what we needed to do today. The opponent had good players on offense, but their defense was unstable, so instructions were given to focus our attacks there.
This facility, managed by the Jiangsu Provincial Football Association, boasts 11 natural grass pitches and 1 artificial turf pitch. The accommodation buildings house both men's and women's teams. The U16 and U18 boys' teams, as well as the women's top team, U18, and U16 women's teams, which are all part of the Jiangsu Suning FC academy, train here.
After the meeting, we had lunch, prepared for the match, and held a final meeting.
Suning Cup International Youth Football Tournament Preliminary Round Final Match
Tianyun Lake Sport Resort, Saturday, August 19, 2017, Kick-off at 14:00
First Half 0-1, Second Half 1-1, Total 1-2
Goal Scorer: Takahashi (PK)
Starting Lineup
GK: Sato, DF: Takahashi, Otsu, Sugaya, Sekiguchi, MF: Iida, Fujii, Fujita, Shibata, Nakagawa, FW: Sakurayama
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In the first half, we defended solidly and launched counter-attacks, but Sakurayama's free header hit the crossbar and did not lead to a goal.
Despite tenacious defending, we conceded a goal in the 33rd minute of the first half. We won the ball near our penalty area, but our subsequent decision-making was slow, leading to the ball being stolen back and a goal conceded, putting us in a difficult situation.
Immediately after the start of the second half, we went on the offensive. Shibata, who timed his run well to target the space behind the opponent's defensive line, was fouled in the penalty area while dribbling, earning us a penalty kick.
Takahashi calmly converted the penalty to equalize. If the match had ended at that point, we would have secured second place in the group, so the opponent desperately attacked, making substitutions. Despite the physical exhaustion from the heat, Antlers responded with various tactics, including player changes, system adjustments, and positional shifts, to withstand the opponent's fierce attacks.
However, a sliding tackle inside the penalty area was called a foul, giving the opponent a penalty kick. They converted it cleanly, and despite our efforts in the remaining time, the opponent held on until the final whistle.
Although it was a disappointing result, we immediately began preparing for tomorrow's match. After dinner, we held a meeting.