Japan beat Qantas Joeys

The Qantas Joeys have been defeated by Japan in the final of the AFF Under-16 Preparatory Tournament played last night at the Laos National Stadium in Vientiane.

The Qantas Joeys have been defeated by Japan in the final of the AFF Under-16 Preparatory Tournament played last night at the Laos National Stadium in Vientiane.

The last time the two sides met was on the first day of the competition which resulted in a 1-1 draw. But this time round, there was a feeling right from the onset that things will be different.

Whereas Japan were reserved in their first encounter, the final began with them attacking from the opening whistle pressed the Qantas Joeys in their own half.

But the Qantas Joeys who had the first real opportunity and they made it count to grab the lead just eight minutes into the match.

A seemingly innocuous corner was cleared by Japanese defender Maetani Takahiro but the ball fall fell onto the path of Daniel Da Silva, whose half volley left keeper Nagasawa Yuya no chance at all.

After conceding, Japan never lost shape and after some persistence, earned a penalty in the 16th minute when Darcy Madden tripped Nakajo Masayoshi inside the box. Referee Mohamed Yazeen Buhari did not hesitate to point to the spot as Miyamoto Kota sent the ball to the left to leave Qantas Joeys goalkeeper Jordan Thurtell stranded.

The Qantas Joeys had a good chance to put their noses in front in the 31st minute but after picking up on a defensive lapse, Joshua McDonald just could not find the right finish to the opportunity presented to him.

With the scores level at the end of the first half, the Qantas Joeys began stronger at the start of the second half with a stiff grounder from Alexander Gersbach being cleared on the line. The introduction of Steve Kuzmanozski not too long afterwards added more pace and ideas to the Qantas Joeys frontline but the Japanese defence stood firm as defender Miyahara Kazuya made a string of timely defensive blocks.

But it was Japan who went ahead in the 79th minute when off a long pass from Watanabe Ryoma that sliced open the Qantas Joeys defence, Kawata Kento ran in to put the ball beyond the reach of Thurtell.

Miyoshi Koji then added the third for Japan deep into injury time to seal the win and the tournament title.

Although the result wasn-t in his favour, Qantas Joeys Head Coach Alistair Edwards was proud of his team-s performance throughout the tournament.

"I couldn't have asked for a better preparation tournament. We came here for 4 quality games that are so vital for our progress as a team and individually,” said Edwards.

"The final was a brilliant game in more ways than one. It was by far our best in the tournament, 12 corners to their 2. We hit the post twice, had shots cleared off the line but the most pleasing aspect was we had Japan literally parked in their half for the second half where we applied constant pressure.

"We just need to work on countering the counter attack and be more concentrated in defence when we have control of the game. We conceded a soft goal with 11 minutes to go from a frantic long ball clearance from a Japanese defender, completely against the run of play"

"The boys have been great and we have all come away from this tournament with some important learning moments plus a great deal of positives to build on. Particularly pleasing has been our ability to control the game for long periods, our attacking play and rapid improvement in tactical awareness," concluded Edwards.

AFF UNDER-16 PREPARATORY TOURNAMENT 2012

(All matches at the Lao National Stadium, KM16)

2 June 2012: AUSTRALIA 1 JAPAN 1 / THAILAND 0 LAOS 1

4 June 2012: JAPAN 3 THAILAND 0 / LAOS 2 AUSTRALIA 3

6 June 2012: AUSTRALIA 4 THAILAND 2 / JAPAN 3 LAOS 0

8 June 2012: LAOS 3 THAILAND 0 / JAPAN 3 AUSTRALIA 1