I wish. Japan needs a good GK to start fighting for big things, let's see what happen with him in the future.
Honestly Kokubo didn't do anything. He has good reflexes which at this age stand out. Technically he's still extremely poor, notice how much he punches and how little he grabs, and he lit the ball slip several times too. Didn't do anything in the PKs either
I wonder why Kashiwa always perform well in youth tournaments but they are not among the best in senior competitions. Hiroki Sakai is the only Kashiwa player on the JNT iirc. They have never contributed much players to the JNT compared to the likes of Cerezo, Gamba and Kawasaki.
Actually in Japan there aren't clubs who have hegemony over the youth system like in Spain, Germany or France, which is good, because it increases competition and provides more opportunities to players. Also, many players come from the high school system and universities. In the current J-league champions Kawasaki Frontale, most of their squad comes from universities, including Yu Kobayashi. That's pretty impressive, Japan is probably one of the few countries on earth where many professional footballers in the top flight come from university teams, and I heard the japanese governament is trying to import a NCAA model to japanese universities, which will turn these university teams even more competitives! I realy would like to know more about university soccer in Japan, Can someone explain me how it works and why so many players choose to go to university teams instead of professional clubs?
If I am wrong, the reason why so many professional footballers in Japan come from University is due to the fact that Japan does not really encourage their players to give up on studying for football. If the players do not make it after giving up their studies or when they retire, they would find it hard to get by without a decent certificate or degree. I read that European countries like Holland take care of their professionals, their players can find jobs in the public sector easily after retiring.
Also, unlike the other j-league clubs, Kashiwa doesn't like to get their young players from high schools or universities, they trust only on their own youth system. You can see that on their new signings, none come from a high school or university: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...TYA4yk4w6Uc_2Kai1HRnWxa7fRl0Sjlqy33x-/pubhtml That's the reason other clubs have more players in the JNT than Kashiwa.
The #AFCU16 draw results. Thoughts?The competition will be played from September 20-October 7, 2018 in Malaysia. #StarsOfTomorrow pic.twitter.com/ioGt9zUl7y— AFC (@theafcdotcom) April 26, 2018 Uzbekistan, China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia not qualified... damn! To be honest, I looked at the qualifiers and the tie-breaking system is a bit crazy
http://www.jfa.jp/eng/news/00017695/ U-16 Japan National Team squad, schedule - U-16 International Dream Cup 2018 JAPAN presented by The Asahi Shimbun GK 1 YAMADA Taiki (Kashima Antlers Youth) 12 NOZAWA Taishi Brandon (FC Tokyo U-18) DF 3 HANDA Riku (Montedio Yamagata Youth) 2 SUMI Kohshiro (FC Tokyo U-18) 5 SUZUKI Kaito (Jubilo Iwata U-18) 19 OKUSHI Shohei (Gamba Osaka Youth) 17 IWASAKI Mana (Yokohama F・Marinos Youth) 4 SAKO Maaya (Tokyo Verdy Youth) 13 NAKANO Shinya (Sagan Tosu U-15) MF 16 YAMAUCHI Kakeru (Vissel Kobe U-18) 6 YOKOKAWA Asahi (Shonan Bellmare U-18) 15 NARUOKA Hikaru (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth) 9 NAKANO Keita (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18) 7 MITO Shunsuke (JFA Academy Fukushima U18) 8 YAMANE Riku (Yokohama F・Marinos Junior Youth) FW 10 AOKI Yusuke (FC Tokyo U-18) 14 KABAYAMA Ryonosuke (Kokoku High School) 11 TOYAMA Shoji (Gamba Osaka Youth) 18 TANAKA Zen (Sagan Tosu U-18) First look at the new gen for the AFC. All the matches are streamed
So apparently the U16's are playing various other U16 national sides recently.....getting beat by everyone and their chicken.... Anybody more knowledgeable on the youth team currently? Why are they leaking goals like a hobby?
looks like they haven’t played well this tournament but they usually invite pretty decent opponents so at this stage it’s better for experience rather than results (they did win the whole thing last year). physically the youth teams are getting better, some handy players too. handa made the bench for yamagata a few weeks ago, he’s got real promise. the u18 are doing well overseas at the moment.
U-17 Japan National Team squad, schedule - Czech Republic Tour (8/16-27)【25th International Youth Tournament of Vaclav Jezek】 Same tournament where last year there was the WC squad. GK UEDA Itsuki (Zweigen Kanazawa U-18) SUZUKI Zion (Urawa Reds Youth) DF NAKAMURA Takumi (Higashi Fukuoka High School) KIMURA Seiji (F.C. Tokyo U-18) BANGNAGANDE Kashif (F.C. Tokyo U-18) BABA Seiya (Tokyo Verdy Youth) HATA Taiga (Ichiritsu Funabashi High School) SUMI Seiga (Nagoya Grampus U-18) MF INOUE Miki (Ventforet Kofu U-18) MATSUOKA Daiki (Sagan Tosu U-18) ODA Yutaro (Vissel Kobe U-18) TAKADA Soya (Omiya Ardija Youth) MATSUMOTO Nagi (Cerezo Osaka U-18) YAMAMOTO Rihito (Tokyo Verdy Youth) TSUKUI Takumi (Yokohama F-Marinos Youth) FW SAKURAGAWA Soromon (Jef United Ichihara Chiba U-18) YAMAZAKI Ryosuke (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth) KURIBARA Ibrahim Junior (Mitsubishi Yowa SC Junior Youth) SOMENO Itsuki (Shoshi High School) MATSUHASHI Yuan (Tokyo Verdy Youth) Tue. 21 August 17:00 1st Match vs U-17 Ukraine National Team (TREBECHOVICE) Wed. 22 August 17:00 2nd Match vs U-17 Slovakia National Team (CHLUMEC) Thu. 23 August 11:00 Training (TBC) Fri. 24 August 16:00 3rd Match vs U-17 Hungary National Team (OLYMPIA HK)
Kashif, Soromon and Ibrahim Junior. Zion Suzuki and Taiga Hata are of African descent too. The number of players with foreign roots in Japanese football is increasing.
Japan U-17 vs Slovakia U-17: https://www.tvcom.cz/Zapas/Sport-Fo...Memorial-Vaclava-Jezka-Japonsko-Slovensko.htm
U16 selected players for the U17 World cup qualifiers: http://www.jfa.jp/attachment/5b8cc275-aa88-483f-8267-0416d3093d95/20180903_u16_member.pdf
damn... poor AFC U16 reduced to "World cup qualifiers" hahah here's the list again for easyness of reading: Squad GK 1 YAMADA Taiki (Kashima Antlers Youth) 12 SASAKI Masato (Kashiwa Reysol U-18) 23 NOZAWA Taishi Brandon (FC Tokyo U-18) DF 3 HANDA Riku (Montedio Yamagata Youth) 4 SUMI Kohshiro (FC Tokyo U-18) 2 SUZUKI Kaito (Jubilo Iwata U-18) 5 ISHIDA Yusuke (Ichiritsu Funabashi High School) 17 YAMADA Nao (Urawa Reds Youth) 16 SAKO Maaya (Tokyo Verdy Youth) 22 TAJIMA Mitsuki (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth) 21 NAKANO Shinya (Sagan Tosu U-15) MF 7 YAMAUCHI Kakeru (Vissel Kobe U-18) 6 YOKOKAWA Asahi (Shonan Bellmare U-18) 11 KONDO Kuraba (Cerezo Osaka U-18) 8 NARUOKA Hikaru (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth) 9 NAKANO Keita (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18) 14 UEDA Keita (Yokohama F・Marinos Junior Youth) 13 MITO Shunsuke (JFA Academy Fukushima U18) 15 NAKANO Ryuma (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18) FW 18 ARAKI Ryotaro (Higashi Fukuoka High School) 10 NISHIKAWA Jun (Toko Gakuen High School) 19 AOKI Yusuke (FC Tokyo U-18) 20 TOYAMA Shoji (Gamba Osaka Youth)
Meh. Would've loved to see these matches but they are not on AFC's channel anymore and no streams seem to be possible to find
This AFC U16 will go down as one of the most funny tournaments. Aside from Uzbekistan, China etc. not qualifying, we have Iran eliminated at the expense of Indonesia and India (who smartly drew 0-0 ). Barring some super upset, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Australia seem set for the world cup.