Teikyo Nagaoka, who was third in the national championship last year and is aiming for a fourth consecutive victory in the prefectural championship, defeated Kaishi Gakuen JSC 2-1 with two goals from Ueda Toki (3rd year), who started as a forward. Kaishi Kokusai defeated Niigata Technical High School in a penalty shootout (5-4) that started 1-1, making it their first four in two tournaments. The semi-finals on June 1st were decided to be Teikyo Nagaoka – Kaishi International and Niigata Meikun – Hokuetsu.
Teikyo Nagaoka took another step closer to his fourth consecutive victory with Ueda's two hits. In the 9th minute of the second half, when the ball was changed from the forward to the right midfielder, he scored a foul with a skillful touch of ball, and headed the ball to midfielder Washoku Yomu (2nd year) to get the first goal. Two minutes later, U-16 Japan national team forward Koyama Masaki (1st year) again headed the net with a left cross, shaking the goal. “We only got to match both goals in the middle. I want to thank my teammates,” he replied with a smile.
Although he was not playing in the Chuetsu Regional Tournament due to the impact of his lower back injury, he has scored nine goals in the prefectural all-out competition, which has taken the lead in three matches from the third round of the first match. On this day, the opponent was a bit of a five-back and put in the Teikyo Nagaoka shift, but the team continued to play in the opposing territory, using short passes and long passes aimed at diagonals. “The coordination has improved as the game plays compared to the spring,” he said. The goal conceded just before the end of the match was a factor, but he said, “I will be careful not to repeat the same thing again next time.”
Our goal is to surpass last year's third place in the national tournament. There's no way I can stumble in the prefecture. The super-sized goal-taking fan vowed to the semi-finals against Kaishi Kokusai, “We will show our own personality and surpass the opponent's spirit. We will also contribute with goals and assists.”[Kobayashi Tadashi]
