After our daily morning exercises, a routine during the expedition, we headed for breakfast.
The dining area is the Players' Restaurant on the 3rd floor. All teams used this restaurant for all three meals every day.
Kick-off was at 10 AM, so we started our meeting at 8:15 AM.
After reiterating our team concept, we confirmed our offensive and defensive strategies against the opponent. We selected members for this tournament, trained diligently, and grew through our matches even after arriving in China. This was the last time this group would play together. We united as one to win the match.
As it was the final match of the tournament, our warm-up was intense. Just before kick-off, everyone formed a huddle to strengthen our unity.
【Tournament Day 5 - Final Tournament - 5th/6th Place Playoff vs FSV Frankfurt (Germany) - Kick-off 10:00 AM】
First half: 1-0
Second half: 0-0
Total: 1-0
Scorer: Ito
Starting Lineup:
GK: Shizaki
FP: Oyama, Kawano, Gorai, Shinbo, Ogura, Yasuzuka, Shiraishi, Hayashi, Sato, Ito
Substitutes:
Nagayama, Kinoshita, Suehara, Otsuka, Kobari
From the start, our defensive response was slow, and we were pushed back by the opponent, but their missed shots helped us.
In the 3rd minute of the first half, Sato received a long ball from GK Shizaki, dribbled, passed the ball to Shiraishi, who then made a one-touch through pass to Ito.
Ito received the pass, carried the ball, checked the goalkeeper's position, and scored the opening goal with a well-aimed shot.
After that, Ogura hit a powerful direct mid-range shot after a teammate laid the ball off, but it struck the post.
Furthermore, he aimed directly from a free kick near the penalty area from a tight angle, but it hit the post again, and we ended the first half without scoring an additional goal.
In the second half, we continued to attack to score an additional goal.
We troubled the opponent with attacks originating from the flanks, a characteristic of this team, such as exploiting the space behind the opponent's fullbacks and creating 2-on-1 situations with our wingers and fullbacks.
We spread the play to the right flank, and Shinbo headed a cross from Ogura with good timing, but it hit the post for the third time in this match. Nagayama followed up, but the opponent cleared it.
Even in a situation where we couldn't score an additional goal, we continued to defend from the front, and our center backs prevented the opponent's attacks.
The opponent's goalkeeper was injured, and all substitutes had already been used, so we played with a numerical advantage.
Even in the final free kick scare, we cleared it properly and the match ended. We were able to finish the final match with a victory.
Kashima Antlers finished in 5th place overall, concluding all scheduled matches.
【Final Tournament Standings】
1st Place Cruzeiro
2nd Place Pyongyang International Football School
3rd Place China National U-14 Team
4th Place ZHONGNAN CODION FC
5th Place Kashima Antlers
6th Place FSV Frankfurt
7th Place Granada CF
8th Place Korean Musan Junior High
9th Place Johor Darul Ta'zim
10th Place Korona Kielce
11th Place Dalian Yifang Football Club
12th Place Imran Soccer Academy
13th Place Thai OAZ Football Academy
14th Place China Jiangyin Junior High
15th Place China Nantong Sports School
16th Place Yanbian Beiguo SC
Finally, we attended the closing ceremony with all participating teams. The closing ceremony was also a grand spectacle, typical of China.
Teams took commemorative photos and interacted with each other.
Johor Darul Ta'zim (Malaysia) is in the same group as our top team in the 2019 ACL. Our next match against them will be away in Malaysia.
The winning team, Cruzeiro, also participates in the "Copa da Amizade," a Brazil expedition that our junior youth third-year students undertake every year, so there's a possibility we'll face them again in about a year.
Among their members was Ronaldinho's son (number 7), who was a former Brazil international and played for clubs like FC Barcelona.
Players and staff also expressed their gratitude to the owner of the host club.
Tomorrow is the final day of the China expedition. We plan to leave our accommodation early in the morning for the airport and return home.