As usual, the day started with waking up at 6 AM. We took a 20-minute walk, slightly changing the route from previous days, and then loosened up our bodies with stretching and flexibility exercises.
Due to the heavy rain last night, the temperature was quite low, making it a very cold day.
We held a meeting in the morning for the match that kicked off at 4 PM, and then headed to the stadium after lunch.
Our opponent in the second match was China's Hebei China Fortune FC Youth team. This was our third match against them this year. We had played against them in the Guangzhou expedition and the Weifang Cup, with a record of one win and one loss.
＜Match Result＞
First Half: 2-0
Second Half: 3-1
Total: 5-1
Goal Scorers: 14th minute of first half - Iizuka, 35th minute of first half - Karasawa, 25th and 29th minute of second half - Chen, 30th minute of second half - Kikuchi
Starting Members:
GK: Daisuke Makata, FP: Ryoma Yamaguchi, Toru Ishii, Shotaro Taniguchi, Kanta Kobayashi, Hayato Ueki, Gota Murayama, Hayabusa Nakayama, Kaito Karasawa, Kai Kikuchi, Hikaru Iizuka,
Substitute Members:
Shion Chiba (GK), Rui Iso, Ryota Fuchigami, Noto Watanabe, Chen Xiangyu, Shogo Kakita
Substitutions:
18th minute of second half (Nakayama → Chen), 35th minute of second half (Murayama → Fuchigami), 41st minute of second half (Makata → Chiba)
Before the match, Coach Isozaki gave instructions, and the entire team formed a huddle to boost their morale before heading out of the locker room.
In the first half, as expected, the opponent focused on attacks utilizing the speed of their wing players. Although they broke through our flanks a few times, we firmly repelled them in front of the goal. Keeping the midfield compact also led to many situations where we intercepted and won back the ball.
The first goal came from a set piece (corner kick), just as we had analyzed. In the 14th minute of the first half, Ishii headed a shot from Kobayashi's corner kick. Iizuka capitalized on the rebound off the post to open the scoring. Furthermore, in the 35th minute of the first half, another corner kick from Kobayashi led to a scramble in front of the goal, and Karasawa ultimately tapped it in for an additional goal.
Despite creating more decisive chances from open play, we couldn't score further and ended the first half with a 2-0 lead.
During halftime, Coach Isozaki gave further instructions and sent the players back onto the pitch.
In the second half, we maintained our strategy, keeping compact and winning balls in midfield. Following Nakayama's injury, Chen, who came on as a substitute in the 18th minute of the second half, scored a wonderful goal (25th minute of second half), extending our lead to 3-0. This broke the opponent's concentration, and Chen scored again from a cross in the 29th minute of the second half, further widening the gap. Moreover, in the 30th minute of the second half, Kikuchi scored a superb header from Kobayashi's cross from the left, extending our lead to 5-0.
It was a game we should have seen out, but in the 45th minute + 2 of the second half, our defensive coordination momentarily broke down, leading to a loss of possession and a goal conceded from the resulting chance. It left a bitter taste.
Match results up to the second match:
Kashima Antlers 0-2 Wolverhampton
Ulsan Hyundai FC 1-1 Hebei China Fortune FC
Kashima Antlers 5-1 Hebei China Fortune FC
Wolverhampton 3-0 Ulsan Hyundai FC
Wolverhampton: 2 wins
Kashima Antlers: 1 win, 1 loss
Ulsan Hyundai FC: 1 draw, 1 loss
Hebei China Fortune FC: 1 draw, 1 loss
Final matches on the 27th:
Wolverhampton vs Hebei China Fortune FC
Kashima Antlers vs Ulsan Hyundai FC
We left the stadium at 6:30 PM after the match and arrived at the hotel at 7:30 PM. After having dinner immediately, lights out was at 10:30 PM, concluding the activities of the fifth day.
