There is more than a month left, and the 100th All-Japan High School Football Championship is about to kick off. The one who represented Shizuoka Prefecture this time was Shizuoka Academy, a traditional football school that defeated Fujigeta in the final of the local conference. This is their return to this arena after two years after winning the 98th National Competition in early 2020. It is worth mentioning that when this team is about to go to the national competition, four senior high school players in the team have already won the offer from the J League team. (The picture below is from left to right) They are Japanese U18 players Ito Nosuke (Kitkyushu Sunflower, central defender), Genrigo (Tokushima vortex, midfielder), Furukawa Yosuke (Iwata Joy, midfielder), and Kawatani Naka (Qimizu Instigation, forward).
Shizuoka Academy has won the national competition championship twice. As a traditional football school, the school has emerged with many famous players active in the J League. However, it is rare for four players in the same grade to win the offer from the J League together. In response, Ito said that he and his teammates were so happy that he could stage a "J League quartet", especially when he joined the professional league with his teammates who fought side by side with him, there was nothing happier than this.
In the final of the Shizuoka Local Conference held on November 13, Shizuoka Academy and Fujiyashita started a fierce battle. Shortly after the second half, Shizuoka Academy scored with a corner kick opportunity by Ito headed the ball. In the 74th minute, Furukawa took advantage of the opponent's rush to score a goal that locked the victory. Successfully advanced to the national competition.
4 players are different. According to the team's coach Shu Kawaguchi, as a member of the U18 team, Ito has a height of 188cm, and his foot skills and ball-holding ability are very strong. He is called the "next-generation central defender." Xuan has super skill at his feet and is also very good at combining human-ball. Furukawa is good at dribbling and has very few high school players who can defend him, but after three consecutive counterattacks, he will also find it difficult. Kawatani's situation is very different. Even if his speed is in the professional arena, he has a lot of room to play, especially when he makes a breakthrough vertically, the speed and passion are an unprecedented experience.
Shizuoka Academy achieved the triple-champion championship in local competitions this year, winning the championship in new players, high-comprehensive football qualifiers, and local conferences respectively. This is also the first time in the team's history. In addition, in the final stage of the High-Comprehensive Comprehensive Sports Conference, the team reached the semi-finals again after 10 years. Prince League Tokai (U18's 2nd League) in the Takamoto Palace Cup started with a crazy performance of 11 consecutive victories. As the best player in the team this season, Coach Kawaguchi most recognized Ito's performance: "He is a player with a strong sense of the court, which is also the characteristic of young people today. Everyone is different and has a personality proposition. Only when the players are rich in personality can they become an excellent team." The lack of necessary personality is also a weakness of Japanese and even Asian players.
At the same time, 4 players were selected by the J League team, and the surrounding views on Shizuoka Academy have also changed a lot. However, Coach Kawaguchi believes that the biggest change to the team is the national championship two years ago. Among the Kawasaki forwards who continued to perform at the god level in the J League this season, there are two players from Shizuoka Academy - Flagbearers Reiyo and Hasegawa Ryuya. However, they were all promoted to professional players after college experience, and this time the four young people will enter the professional arena after graduating from high school. In this way, Shizuoka Academy’s legendary gathers various types, which is a pride for the school, and their outstanding performance in the professional arena and even the national team will inspire the next generation of Shizuoka Academy football players.
Ito said that he longed to meet with his other three teammates, as well as the other teammates who went to college to study in the professional arena as soon as possible. The next task of the team is to return to the top U18 league and strive for the championship trophy again after two years in the National Conference.
text/Bumps-Zhang Yangyuan
