Wednesday 4 January saw the quarter-finals of the 25th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship in Hyogo Prefecture in order to decide the four semi-finalists.

Pick-up Match 1

Fujieda Junshin High School 0-2（0-1, 0-1）Daisho Gakuen High School

The first match was between Fujieda Junshin High School (Tokai 1/Shizuoka) and Daisho Gakuen High School (Kansai 2/Osaka) at Miki Sogo Bosai Park Second Athletic Field. Although Fujieda Junshin, the previous champions, took the initiative first, earning corner kicks, the team struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities. Daisho Gakuen High School gradually found their rhythm. Despite the opponents having better possession of the ball, Daisho Gakuen tried to intercept their lateral or backward passes whenever possible, quickly switching to their attack and at times drawing a foul from Fujieda Junshin.

After 14 minutes, Daisho Gakuen earned a corner kick. Although all the players gathered towards the far side, the kicker sent the ball to the near post. ICHIMASA Megumi, who reacted to the ball after another pass, strongly struck at goal with her right foot. The goalkeeper attempted to parry it away, but it went through her fingers and into the right corner of the goal, creating a one-goal lead for Daisho Gakuen.

In the second half, Fujieda Junshin replaced the players at midfield to keep the ball up front and send forward passes to the open space between the opponents’ defenders. However, the team struggled to attack against Daisho Gakuen, who ran desperately and defended tenaciously. Fujieda Junshin became even keener on attacking, while Daisho Gakuen attempted to score their second off counter-attacks. In the 69th minute, Daisho Gakuen earned a penalty kick after being fouled by dribbling up and advancing into the box. Captain KUBOTA Haruka converted the spot-kick to stretch their lead to two goals. Daisho Gakuen continued to defend solidly and got through to the semi-final two years in a row.

Match Summary (Japanese version only)

Pick-up Match 2

Jumonji High School 1-0（1-0, 0-0）Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University High School

The second match was between Jumonji High School (Kanto 3/Tokyo), who sought to become the semi-finalists for the first time in five years, and Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University High School (Chugoku 1/Hiroshima), who aimed to get through to their very first semi-final, at Miki Sogo Bosai Park Second Athletic Field. Jumonji found their rhythm first. The team forced the opponents to chase the ball from right to left by moving it from one side to the other and displaying their speed on the wings.

In the 10th minute, MATSUMOTO Manaka, who ran towards the space behind the defenders from the right side, received a pass and went swiftly past the goalkeeper, but her shot went wide. Hiroshima Bunkyo Women, on the other hand, tried to attack back with a combination of aggressive defence up front and strong individual plays. After a period where the match stayed in the balance, the scoreline moved in the last minute of the first half. After 40 minutes, as Jumonji earned a corner kick, the team quickly passed the ball to MURAKAMI Maho, who struck a shot into the left-hand corner, building a one-goal lead.

Jumonji spend most of the time playing in the opponents’ area after the halftime break. In the 48th minute, from a cross ball off a long distance pass into the centre, Murakami fired another shot, only to be denied by the goalpost. After 52 minutes, Jumonji attempted another shot by stringing short passes up the left flank, but failed to find the back of the net.

On the other hand, Hiroshima Bunkyo Women tried to accelerate their offence by substituting players, but they could not find their rhythm, letting Jumonji have the possession of the ball for a long duration of time. Jumonji managed to prevent the opponents from taking any shot in the second half. The team sustained their one-goal advantage to win the match 1-0, booking a place in the semi-final.

Kamimura Gakuen High School (Kyushu 2/Kagoshima), the runner-up in the previous championship, beat Seiwa Gakuen High School (Tohoku 2/Miyagi) 1-0, while Shutoku High School (Kanto 5/Tokyo) won a close game against Tokiwagi Gakuen High School (Tohoku 1/Miyagi) with a deciding goal just before the final whistle 4-3. Both winners grabbed a spot in the semi-finals.

Match Summary (Japanese version only)

The semi-finals will be held on Friday 6 January at Noevir Stadium Kobe in order to decide the finalists.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

KUBOTA Haruka (Daisho Gakuen High School)
Since the individual skills of Fujieda Junshin were higher, we needed to clarify our tasks, not get outran by the opponents, and fight until the end without giving it up. When under pressure, we also tried to move forward, while defending patiently. We have been on the pitch with confidence in this championship regardless of who the opponents were. The players, who replaced the injured third graders, also have been performing hard. Winning the quarter-final is not our goal. The celebration will have to wait until we actually win the championship.

FUKUDA Yui (Fujieda Junshin High School)
Although we have analysed the opponents’ corner kicks, they tried something new, which we couldn’t react well to it. We kept better possession of the ball, but we couldn’t break through the opponents’ defence due to a lack of creativity in the final third of the pitch. As a result, our defence did not perform well, either. Despite our defeat, I enjoyed our last match, in which all of us ran until the last moment. I don’t feel regret, as we displayed our playing style. I believe showcasing Fujieda Junshin’s football in a nationwide championship against strong teams proved our improvement. I do hope the first and second graders will do well next year again.

MURAKAMI Maho (Jumonji High School)
As the opponents pressed us up front more than we had expected, we couldn’t play as we planned to. Although we intended to make unanticipated moves sending the opponents on a wild-goose chase and take better control of the match, we ended up feeding long-distance balls under pressure. We decided what to do in set pieces depending on the situation. When I scored, we tried a short corner. When the ball came towards me, I knew ‘I could score’. I was pleased that I could actually strike a goal. Our strong desire to go a stage further led us to a victory today. I’d like to win the semi-final with our own brand of football.

SAKATA Megumi, Coach (Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University High School)
We managed to occasionally intercept the ball while running from right to left in the first half. We haven’t got a star player in our team. So we aim to become the kind of team, in which all eleven players steal the ball and go close to the goal. However, we struggled to take a shot. After being promoted to the coach from the coaching staff this season, we built the team based upon the concept formed by the previous boss – attack and defend altogether – with the third graders in order to assemble a new team. They took me this far. I believe the first and the second graders learned something from this match for the coming year.

25th All Japan High School Women's Football Championshi

30 December 2016 (Sat.) ～ 8 January 2017 (Sun.)　[Free Admission]
First Round～ Quater-finals：Venues across Hyogo Prefecture
Semi-finals ～ Final：Noevir Stadium Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture)

Tournament Information