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New coach welcomes exposure for Teen Ayuyus
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Posted on Jan 27 2017
The players of the CNMI U17 training pool chase down Shonan Institute of Technology’s Takumi Yozumi during the first half of their friendly game last Wednesday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
The CNMI U17 training pool may have lost its friendly match against the visiting Shonan Institute of Technology, 0-7, last Wednesday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field, but still gained lessons that could help the group play better in future games.
“It was a very good exposure,” said Michiteru Mita, the new technical director of the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, replacing Kiyoshi Sekiguchi. “They picked up some techniques and learned game situation adjustments.”
Mita, who called the shots for the Teen Ayuyus and was assisted by Jershwin Angeles and Jon Takano, said matches against high-level teams like Shonan Institute are what the CNMI bets need to get better as they prepare for an Asian Football Confederation tournament later this year.
“The Japanese team is very organized. Their players are very clever and they managed to adjust to the condition of the field gradually after struggling early,” Mita said.
The visiting squad, which is made of senior high school players of the university located in Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, got into the groove after Jora Yoshiura scored the team’s first goal in the 15th minute. Yoshiura made it two in a row with his shot eight minutes before the 40-minute first half ended. The Japanese kept going in the second half, as even the heavy showers could not prevent them from successfully attacking the Teen Ayuyus’ defense.
Yoshiura earned one more goal in the 64th minute to complete the hat-trick, while Takumi Yozumi, Hayata Kimura, and Daichi Inoue were the other scorers for Shonan Institute of Technology. Yozumi hit the board for the visiting team in the 47th minute, while Kimura had his goal nine minutes later. Inoue closed out for the Japanese with his conversions in the 69th and 71st minute.
Though the Teen Ayuyus failed to score, Mita was happy that his wards were also aggressive on offense.
“We created some scoring opportunities and that’s good to see,” said the new NMIFA technical director, adding that he has seen significant improvements from the pool members since he arrived on island late last year.
“They are improving every day and having better concept of team play,” said Mita.
