NEWS

FC Tokyo U-15 Fukagawa won the Prince Takamado Cup All-Japan Under-15 Championship for the first time by beating the Albirex Niigata junior youth team 1-0 on Monday at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Tokyo substitute Naoki Watanabe scored in the 55th minute.
Albirex, making their first appearance in the final of the annual tournament, entered the game in a positive frame of mind, but the Tokyo boys defended well to take the initiative away from the Niigata team.
After the break, Albirex attacked hard again with good efforts from forward Fumiya Hayakawa.
But Tokyo, playing in the final for the fifth successive year, broke the deadlock.
Watanabe came off the bench in the 53rd minute, and two minutes later the Tokyo substitute forward took a ball from Kento Hashimoto and slotted it past Niigata goalkeeper Kazuki Takahashi.
Albirex responded well, but the Tokyo players held on for the win.
Tokyo Under-15 coach Toru Nagasawa said, “It’s nice to win the tournament, but this generation needs to be nurtured more. The more significant thing is how many players from the squad we had today will be playing in four to five years time.
“We played all the players from our squad in this tournament, and that should help inspire them as players.”