School football spawns stars

SCORING IN POPULARITY: IN JAPAN, UNLIKE IN EUROPE, TOURNAMENT DRAWS ELITE TALENT

Japan's national high school football tournament is thriving after more than 100 years, attracting huge crowds, millions watching on TV and breeding future stars, despite professional clubs trying to lure away young talent.

This year's edition started on Saturday and is still regarded as the pinnacle of amateur football with young players dreaming of playing in the final in front of tens of thousands at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Matches are a massive occasion for the whole school as pupil cheer squads wave flags, bang drums and cheer their teams on in a spectacle of noise and colour.

"All the teams are at a similar level of technical ability so it's about who wants to win the most," 18-year-old Junpei Fukuda, the leader of Ryutsukeizai University Kashiwa High School's cheering squad, said.

"We want our voices to be the loudest."

Unlike in Europe, where young players are snapped up by professional club academies, high school football in Japan still attracts elite talent.