Ozu and co claim the final on penalties to be crowned Japanese champions.
The Japanese Championship came to a close this weekend as Fusion edged a thrilling final on penalties against Solmarpraia to claim a maiden title in their first year of foundation.
Held from October 14th until 16th, the event saw 16 sides battle it out across four groups, with Fusion, Lequios, Solmarpraia and Dorsole all progressing from their respective pools into the semi-finals.
Both semis were decided by one goal, with Fusion edging past two-time champions Lequios in a five-goal thriller before Solmarpraia also moved into the final with a 4-3 win against Dorsole.
In a closely contested final, an own-goal from Iso Hiroaki broke the deadlock in Fusion’s favour, with the score remaining at 1-0 going into the final period.
Heimanu Taiarui doubled the advantage and, while Tomoya Uehara reduced the deficit, Takasuke Goto restored the two-goal cushion to seemingly ensure a straightforward success for Fusion.
However, Takashi Aragaki cut the lead once more before Takumi Saito equalised with six seconds remaining of normal time to set up an extra three-minute period.
When that ended goalless, Ozu and Bernardo Boteryo registered from the spot for Fusion while only Kazumasa Asami could manage the same for their opponents, Uehara and Iso the men to falter from the spot.
Reflecting, Japan international Ozu said: “Winning the Japanese Championship meant a lot of fighting. I want to thank everybody involved, both inside the team and outside, for supporting us to make this dream come true. We made history, and we will keep training to win more and more trophies.”
Marcelo Mendes, the national coach for Japan, was also in attendance, adding: “The level of the National Championship was very high, with very competitive games and new talents popping up.
“The work we are doing with the JFA, with courses all across the country, is having laudable results. The teams showed a higher tactical discipline, and produced some quality beach soccer. I want to congratulate Fusion, who managed to bring in some foreign talent and win the championship.
“I think this will open the door to more teams to do the same. I am very satisfied with what I saw during the weekend.”
Mendes’ side are in action this week when Japan feature alongside Brazil, Italy and Mexico at the Supercopa das Nacoes in Santos.
