The 15th All Japan Senior (over 60) Football Tournament and the Senior (over 70) Football Festival entered their second day on Sunday 31 May. In the All Japan Senior (over 60) Football Tournament, which had its second and third matchdays of the first round, participating teams showed heated battles despite rain starting to fall about halfway through the event.

In Group A, the team passing through to the next round were host Hokkaido's Muroran Senior 60 Soccer Club, who started off the tournament with a victory on the first day. Although the Hokkaido side finished the second match against Hiroshima Selection Team 60 (Hiroshima) with a scoreless draw, they beat Furukawa Sonen Soccer Aikokai (Lazos Koga F.C./ Ibaraki) 1-0 in the next third match to top the group with seven points.

60 Akita Selection Soccer (Akita) shined in Group B, having powerhouses such as Athletic Club Chiba (Chiba), who got the first spot in the battleground Kanto qualifiers. After grabbing a win over Athletic Chiba on the opening day, the Akita club saw off Wakayama Kyuyu Club (Wakayama) 3-1 on the second day. They levelled with Mie Squads V (Mie) with six points but advanced to the second round thanks to the goal difference of one goal.

In Group C, Yokosuka Senior Football Club (Kanagawa) showed their strength solid defence. After defeating Shinshu Wakuwaku Soccer Club (Nagano) 1-0 on the second matchday, they added one more win in the third contest against Miyagi Phoenix Soccer Club (Miyagi). After finishing the first match with a loss, Kochi Showa OB Club (Kochi) came back with back-to-back victories but fell short. Yokosuka Senior Football Club sealed the second round spot with seven points.

Hyogo Senior 60 Selection Team (Hyogo), who reached the last 4 spot last year, displayed solid performances again this year, topping Group D with three consecutive wins. They clinched a 3-0 shutout win over Super Goal 3 (Hokkaido) on the third matchday to keep clean sheets in all the past matches at this tournament. As their offensive side also scored in all the matches, the Hyogo outfit are targeting for the first tournament title in perfect form.

The final day of the tournament scheduled today has the two second round matches (semi-finals) and final. The semi-finals see Muroran Senior 60 Soccer Club meeting 60 Akita Squads Soccer and Yokosuka Senior Football Club facing Hyogo Senior 60 Selection Team for the final spots. The remaining matches for the national title are must-see, as 　neither of the four teams have never notched the title before.

Players' Comments

SUZUKI Masamichi (Hiroshima Selection Team 60)
I started playing when I was in junior high school and now this is my 58th year. I still play every week in our prefecture’s senior league. The reason why I can keep it going is because I love football. You have to kick the ball as you keep running. You have to kick the ball in the course of your team’s game plan. Dealing with the ball with your foot seems simple but is difficult, and it’s fun when you do it successfully. I think this is the reason why I can maintain good health. People say your legs lose muscle and become thinner, but I owe this thickness at the age 70 to playing football.

IMANO Keiichi (60 Akita Selection Soccer)
For this tournament, we practiced on our signature counter-attack by playing practice matches against players in their fifties. We are aiming at the championship, so I am glad that we passed the first round. We have many players on this team who have played together since their twenties, and even today we meet once a week for practice. We looked forward to this tournament because in this tournament we can try what we have done and we can see how well they work. Me personally I keep trying to score goals. I haven’t been able to do much to help my team, so my satisfaction level is like half perfect yet. 

TEZUKA Ikuo (Shinshu Wakuwaku Soccer Club)
It’s regrettable that we allowed the first goal of the match in all three matches we played. If you keep your opponents scoreless, you will never lose. We couldn’t do what we were supposed to do. This tournament is the most important tournament for us. I have played in more than 10 national tournaments in the past, including the ones in the Over 50 category, but I still get nervous. My wife jokingly says to me “You play like slow motion”, but I feel disappointed when losing because I am very serious about this. Even during losses, I feel happy because I meet people through playing football and I can be a part of this circle of friends.

NINOMIYA Hiroyasu (Fukuoka 60 Gara Football Club)
We never wanted to lose as a Kyushu representative and we were going to go all the way to the final. So finishing with only one win is very disappointing. The players we played against in a national tournament were so different with every step of their run. I felt we still need a lot more training, so with this experience in ourselves, we will keep trying hard next year. On our team, there are many players who haven’t retired from their job. They all are so willing to take time off from work for playing hard for this tournament. We all never miss our practice and we just love football so much. We want to keep playing as long as possible.  

JFA-TV(Japanese version only)

The 15th All Japan Seniors (over 60s) Football Tournament

Date: Sat. 30 May - Mon. 1 June 2015
Venue: Sun-Green Sport Village (Yubari Heiwa Sport Park)
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