The 48th Japan Club Youth Soccer Championship (U-18)
Group League 1st Sec. vs Ventforet Kofu U-18 (Kanto/Yamanashi)
Monday, July 22, 2024 Kickoff: 19:00 (35 mins per half)

(Venue: J-GREEN SAKAI S1)

GAMBA OSAKA Osaka Youth 2-0 Ventforet Kofu U-18
［First Half 1-0/Second Half 1-0］

[Scorers]
Okura, Hisanaga

[Starting members]
GK Araki
DF Kaji, Furukawa, Yokoi, Matsui
MF Nagata, Yamamoto, Amano, Okura, Morita
FW Nakatsumi

Substitutions: Okura to Tono, Matsui to Matsumoto, Nakazumi to Hisanaga, Kaji to Yata


The Japan Club Youth Soccer Championship (U-18) kicks off today and is divided into four regions across the country.
GAMBA OSAKA Youth, who will compete in the group stage at J-GREEN SAKAI, will face Ventforet Kofu U-18, who won the Kanto Qualifiers, in the 1st Sec. .
There was some tension as it was the first match of the national tournament, and the game progressed in a stalemate with both teams gauging each other's moves early on.
The game started to change in the 29th minute of the first half, when the pressure from the front line led to a pass mistake by the opponent, and MF Okura made a loop shot over the GK 's head and into the goal, successfully scoring the opening goal. The first half ended with the score at 1-0.
In the second half, GAMBA OSAKA replaced Okura with MF Tono in an attempt to score more goals.
Meanwhile, Ventforet Kofu used their hard work to attack Gamba's territory, but GK Araki was effective in preventing any scoring opportunities and prevented them from scoring.
The score remained 1-0 as the FW entered additional time. GAMBA OSAKA replaced striker Nakazumi with FW Hisanaga.
Just after the substitution, in the 70th minute + 2 minutes, DF received a pass from defender Yokoi, got behind the opposing DF, and swung his right foot to score a goal!
Head Coach Machinaka's strategy was spot on, and the team scored the extra points they needed.
The game ended with a score of 2-0. GAMBA OSAKA, with the support of their supporters and the local crowd, made it through a difficult first match and earned themselves three points.


Thank you for your warm support for GAMBA OSAKA Osaka Youth today.


Group League 2nd Sec. vs. Montedio Yamagata Youth (Tohoku/Yamagata Prefecture)
Tuesday, July 23, 2024, kickoff time: 19:00
Venue: J-GREEN SAKAI S1



For details about the 48th Japan Club Youth Soccer Championship (U-18),
Please visit the Japan Club Youth Soccer Federation website.

https://www.jfa.jp/match/club_youth_u18_2024/