Courtesy: www.jfa.jp

Fierce futsal battles begin for final round berth - PUMA CUP 2015

PUMA CUP 2015 The 20th All Japan Futsal Championship, the tournament to determine the nation's best futsal team, began on Friday 6 March. For the final round starting on 13 March, the first round saw fierce battles on the opening day among the teams, divided into six groups of four.

Because the results from the opening day potentially make a significant difference for their future in the tournament, every team showed great concentration from the beginning and played a full-hearted game. There were contests between F.League teams and between regional league teams, which apparently turned out to be close matches.

In Group A, Fugador Sumida (F.League) and Voscuore Sendai (F.League) showed a see-saw contest to get themselves ahead all the way to the end. While Sumida kept the ball and took the initiative, Sendai also showed focused defence. In the second half with Sumida's 1-0 lead, Sendai caught the rhythm with a powerplay as goalie Kuromoto went up into the opposing end. In the 21st minute, Sasaki Ryo netted an equaliser. After that, Sumida took the lead again, yet Sasaki put it home again to level the score in the 38th minute. At last Sumida's Kanagawa Takeshi scored one minute from time to give his side a slender win.

In the regional team battle between Tokushima Rapaz (Shikoku) and Toro Bravo Toyama (Hokushinetsu), Tokushima caught the pace with their offensive efforts early on and grabbed three-goal lead. They allowed Toyama to close the gap to one goal but retained the lead to notch their first match 5-2.

In Group B, the match between Agleymina Hamamatsu (F.League) and Fuchu Athletic F.C. (F.League) was also got heated. Hamamatsu went close to Fuchu's goal with strong home support. Despite allowing two goals in the first half to get behind, the home side played tenaciously without giving up. However, they struggled to gain a goal as Fuchu picked up a 3-0 victory.

Another match also saw Setstar Wakayama (Kansai 2) and Zott Waseda Futsal Club (Kanto 1) battling each other in the heat. While Waseda played with solid defence and quick counter-attacks, Wakayama tried to break through the defence with individual plays. The exciting east-west contest ended with Waseda's 3-1 win after they firmly converted goal-scoring opportunities.

Other groups also had heated matches. In Group C, while regional champions SWH Futsal Club (Kansai 1) eliminated Nagoya Oceans Satellite (Tokai 1), Pescadola Machida (F.League) defeated Shonan Bellmare (F.League). In Group F, which is expected to be scrambled, Deucao Kobe (F.League) saw off Espolada Hokkaido (F.League) 3-2.
There were two drawn matches, as Divertido Asahikawa (Hokkaido) drew with Hiroshima F-DO (Chugoku) in Group E, Member Of The Gang (Tokai 2) held Bardral Urayasu Segundo (Kanto 2) in Group F.

Comments

MAEDA Yoshifumi, Coach Tokushima Rapaz
Our players played well, but our negative side popped up, allowing them to feel they could still come back even with 3-0 down. We lost the balls during tough spell, so the players need to have better communication with each other. (For me playing on this court), I'm really grateful that our players brought me here to the wonderful stage. We are challengers so will put our focus on every single second of play to definitely show what we've taken up so far.

SUGA Takehiro, Head Coach Fugador Sumida
Because the opponents played on powerplays by pulling their goalie for an attacker, we were forced to keep a balance between offence and defence. In that sense, we struggled to catch our momentum. In terms of the goal against, I know the clear reason why we let them score it, so we will adjust it well. Having played in the F.League this season, our fundamentals have grown and the players have got mental strength not to get tensed. Tomorrow we will bring out our best and play attractive futsal.

ARAKI Jun Zott Waseda Futsal Club
The opponents were very skilled and dribbled through our defence instead of passing move, so we weren't able to build our rhythm. But because we¡¯ve practiced pressing throughout the season, we were able to stick to getting it through. We will have matches against F.League teams in the next two days, but all we need is show what we've built up. We are aiming for Yoyogi and, as one of representatives of Kanto, we want to become a team that people think of that "They will surely be back" just like Sumida in the past.

TANIMOTO Shunsuke Fuchu Athletic F.C.
As we both came out to play with mindset that "This match will be a must-win contest," I thought this would be very defensive. Then, it really started so early on. But that we didn't give up a goal is important. In a knockout stage like this, it's important not to give up a goal and play with a sense of solidarity. In that sense, veteran players who dont have so much playing time also fired us up from the bench and showed their enthusiasm so that we could create good atmosphere. In the remaining matches, we will win by a big margin and show off F. League's strength.







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