Event

Young Japanese team finishes 3rd in Danone Nations Cup 2013 in UK
Japan was one of 32 nations to take part in the world’s biggest international football tournament for 10-12 year olds, the Danone Nations Cup, which was held in the UK in September. The young Japanese played magnificently to finish in 3rd place overall and were also commended for their sense of sportsmanship by being awarded the Fair Play Award.

Japan were represented by Yokohama F Marinos Primary, the junior side of professional team Yokohama F Marinos in the J League, and they won the right to compete in the main event in the UK by defeating teams in regional and national competitions in Japan over the previous six months.

 

The Japanese team faced a difficult start to the competition by being placed in a group with the Netherlands, Turkey and Tunisia but some outstanding performances, including a resounding 8-0 victory against the Tunisians, meant they finished top.

In their next game against Russia, Japan drew 2-2 but emerged victorious on penalties to set up a quarter final meeting against Indonesia, who were subsequently defeated 2-0.

In the semi final, Japan lost by a single goal to France, who went on to be crowned the overall winners as they beat Brazil on penalties in the final.

The opening games were held at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford but all the teams decamped to Wembley Stadium for the final phase of games which were all held on Saturday 7 September and were watched by legend footballer Zinedine Zidane. At Wembley, Japan beat Ireland 2-0 in final game play-off to confirm their status as the 3rd best team at the competition. To cap a successful tournament, their number 11 Hiro Sato received the Best Player of the Tournament award.

Next year the Danone Nations Cup World Final will take place in Brazil.


Photographs: ©Danone 2013

 

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