Aries FC blanks CNMI U18, 5-0

A depleted, but cohesive Aries Football Club crew shut down the CNMI Boys U18 National Team, 5-0, in an exhibition game last Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex.

The CNMI Boys U18 National Team’s Joel Fruit is caught holding on to Aries FC’s Kenji Tamaki during the second half of their exhibition game last Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Aries FC, one of the known clubs in Tokyo, arrived on Saipan with a complete 11-player roster, but was one man down (due to injury) come game time, allowing Chelsea FC Soccer School’s (Hong Kong) Takemoto Suzuki to suit up for the visiting team. The squad went on to make up for its lack of enough manpower with high-level passing, dribbling, and ball control skills, good spacing, and organized defense.

The Tokyo-based team’s defense was so good that in the entire second half, the Blue Ayuyus failed to make a single attempt. The closest thing that the host squad could do was when Sean Perez sprinted from the left sideline, chasing a forward pass from John Diego Masga. Perez, who scored the two goals in the CNMI’s 2-0 win over Japan Soccer College early this month, got the ball and slipped past a taller defender in Akihito Ito. However another taller and mobile Aries FC defender (Kouhei Iwama) confronted Perez inside the penalty area, while goalie Dai Onoue was also all eyes on the play. Perez did not have a chance to kick the ball after a few dribbles, as Iwama stole possession and kicked the ball out as time expired.

It was the same story all day long for the CNMI’s offense, as it had limited touches and when it did, Aries FC’s defenders at the back were quick to react and break up the play. Aries FC read the CNMI’s offense well, which was anchored on Perez and it started with getting forward passes from Scott Kim and Masga. Ryu Tanzawa was also with Perez at back, hoping for outlets, but simply could not past the agile Aries FC defenders.

On offense, the visiting squad made good passes and was familiar with each other’s location even though they were all over the pitch, leaving the CNMI defense guessing who’s going to take the shot. It did not help that the host team missed the services of defenders Enrico Del Rosario and John Taisacan.

Two of Aries FC’s first three goals came off passes with Koji Murayama netting the first one in the 26th minute off an assist from Kenji Tamaki. Tamaki also hit the board as Murayama, instead of going for a penalty kick, swung the ball over to the former who made the cross in the 38th minute. Furuta completed Aries FC’s scoring in the first half with a wide open shot at the center a few feet away from the penalty area in the 36th minute. Joshua Galarion was the CNMI’s goalie in the first half.

Chris Aninzo relieved Galarion in the second half and made several saves that prevented Aries FC from piling up more goals. Aries FC got its two other goals in the final half from Furuta and Murayama. Furuta went for a left cross volley that hit the top of the post before rolling down, giving Aries FC a 4-0 advantage in the 60th minute. Murayama’s goal came off a rebound in the 78th minute, as Tamaki attacked from the wing, with Aninzo pushing the ball out a bit, but the former went for a followup inside the penalty area.

“There’s a lot of movement from the Aries FC players that’s why they have a lot of scoring opportunities. That’s something that our players learned and will try to follow in our future games. Exhibition games like these provide our players learning times regardless of the results,” said assistant coach Jershwin Angeles.