The 1st International Jr. Youth Tournament in France took place in Paris, in the Parc des Princes stadium. In this venue, twelve U-16[1] teams from around the world competed for the victory.
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Story[]
Pre-tournament[]
After the U-16 Japanese training camp was built after a month of preparations, the team flew to Europe. There, All Japan Jr. Youth did strengthening matches in West Germany during 2 weeks, where Tsubasa Ozora recovered and managed to join the team after two consecutive defeats. Other players that joined the team after the training camp were Genzo Wakabayashi from Hamburger Jr. and Misaki, who was living in Paris at that moment. Assistant coach Misugi also joined as the super substitute player. With that fixed, the team was ready for the International Jr. World Cup.
International Jr. Youth tournament[]
Group stage
The International Jr. Youth Tournament consisted in a group stage, with four groups of three teams each, followed by a knockout stage, where the winners of each group qualified for the semifinals. All Japan Jr. Youth had the toughest but enriching experience, since their Jr. Youth team had never being invited to an international football tournament event. Their opponents were Diaz's Argentina Jr. Youth and Gino Hernandez's Italy Jr. Youth. While Japan Jr. grew a lot as a team, France, West Germany, Uruguay, the teams that also managed to win their groups, which were candidates to win the tournament finals.
Knockout stage
Finally, the four toughest teams were Japan Jr., West Germany Jr., France Jr. and Uruguay Jr. where the group winners advanced to the semifinals stage. All Japan Jr. Youth won the title after beating France in the semifinals (in the penalty shootout) and West Germany in the finals.
Results[]
- Main article: International Jr. Youth Tournament (table)
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The members of the teams had to be 15 years old or younger at the time.