Day 6 of the U-18 Germany Expedition.
Today, in the morning, I had the opportunity to visit the stadium of the prestigious local team from North Rhine-Westphalia, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and observe the training of the TOP team. The players seemed to be reflecting on their own dreams while directly experiencing the greatness of a club with a rich history and tradition.
The opponent in the 4th match of the German series is the amateur team "TIO TONA" from the 6th division of Germany. This is the only match against an adult team during this expedition. The match will kick off at 18:30 at the ground of the suburban club "SHARG".

In the early stages of the match, we were confused by the intense defense that deeply penetrated our area, making it difficult to find our rhythm.
Still, forwards Rui Nishimoto, Toshiki Yoshimura, and Yosuke Hantani showed aggressive plays and shots, gradually gaining momentum.
Then, in the 32nd minute, Hantani, who ran into the center from a cross by Yoshimura on the right side, calmly controlled the ball, carefully observed the goalkeeper, and slotted it into the left corner to score the long-awaited opening goal.
They continued to dominate the match, but in the 40th minute, they conceded a goal due to a careless mistake in front of their own goal, ending the first half at 1-1.

Just after the start of the second half, in the 46th minute, Nishimoto received the ball in the center of the opponent's territory and confidently struck with his left foot, sending a middle shot from about 30 meters into the bottom right corner of the goal!
Once again taking the lead, in the 64th minute, Nishimoto stole the ball from a sharp forecheck and passed it to Aihara Katsuya. Aihara, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, calmly scored to make it 3-1.
In the 77th minute, Ryo SATO scored, and in the 80th minute, Tomoki JOGATAKI added another goal, ending the match 5-1. This marked the first victory of the tour in Germany.

Tomorrow will be the final match of this expedition, a training match against Schalke 04. We want to give our all and fight with the strength we have, and gain another valuable experience to take back to Japan.

FW Nishimoto Rui's comment
"I'm glad we were able to secure our first victory as a team. We will play with all our might towards victory tomorrow."
MF Shirogataki Tomoki's comment
"I was surprised by the high level of physicality and speed. There were things we could do, so I will play with confidence tomorrow."
DF Watanabe Taku's comment
"There were plays that didn't go as planned against the physicality and height, but there were also parts where I was able to cover well with quick judgment and foot skills, so I want to make use of that."