Our first opponent was the youth team of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., which belongs to England's Premier League.
We woke up at 6 AM, went for a walk and did some exercises, then had breakfast. After that, we had a meeting and headed to the match venue after lunch.
＜Match Result＞
First Half: 0-0
Second Half: 0-2
Total: 0-2
Starting Lineup:
GK: Daisuke Makata, FP: Kaito Karasawa, Toru Ishii, Shotaro Taniguchi, Kanta Kobayashi, Ryota Fuchigami, Takeru Murayama, Hayato Nakayama, Rui Isoyo, Noto Watanabe, Hikaru Iizuka,
SUB: Shion Chiba, Ryoma Yamaguchi, Kaito Ueki, Kai Kikuchi, Chen Xiangyu (Chen), (Shogo Kakita)
Substitutions: 18th minute of second half (Isoyo -> Chen), 38th minute of second half (Iizuka -> Yamaguchi)
In the pre-match meeting, Coach Isozaki gave strong instructions, emphasizing basic principles, common sense, and fighting with full effort. He told them to "run, communicate, fight, and transition quickly between offense and defense," and to share what they felt on the pitch through their voices. After that, everyone formed a huddle, got pumped up, and headed out of the locker room to the pitch.
At the start of the match, the opposing team's intense pressing from the front was not strongly felt, but their individual technical skills were high. From the outset, they maintained possession, playing direct passes and switching sides.
As time passed, we gradually adapted to the opponent's playing style.
Our defense was able to slide quickly and effectively, and our lines were rarely breached.
Towards the end of the first half, there were a few dangerous situations where we were caught behind, but we responded tenaciously and finished the half without conceding any goals.
During halftime, Coach Isozaki gave instructions and sent the players out with powerful words.
In the second half, despite a good save by our goalkeeper, we continued to defend tenaciously without conceding. However, in the 19th minute of the second half, a marking error led to a cross and a goal conceded.
After that, we tried to attack through Chen's efforts and long throws, but instead, the opponent launched a counter-attack, getting behind us with speed, and scored freely.
We fought without giving up until the very end, but could not score a goal and the match ended. We lost the first match of the tournament 0-2.
