One day after their Azerbaijan match, the Japan national Under-18 team had training on 4 January, refreshing their mindset for the following day’s game against the Russian Under-17 squad.
The team held a meeting before the practice. Their head coach Uchiyama said, ``Accept the result of the Azerbaijan game sincerely. If we are to lose in the Asian qualifier, it would be in that fashion. But you can’t afford to reflect on a game like yesterday’s too long. You’ve got to know that even if our opponents focus on just their defence, you can always find a hole to score, and even when you are playing your own football, when you don’t have your last passes or are not elaborate enough on your moves and can’t score a goal. Let’s share our own mistakes and issues with the whole team and improve those for our next game and Asian qualifying. And let’s get to know ourselves, know your teammates, and understand the traits of your opponents when you play.’’ The team looked back their Azerbaijan game on film and clarified on their issues.

In the training, the players who played in the Azerbaijan match for more than 45 minutes just worked on running and stretching, while others used the ball going through some pass training, 3-on-2 games and shooting training for about an hour.

Meanwhile, because Azerbaijan defeated the Russia Under-17 team 4-2 on the 4th, Japan’s game against Russia on the 5th will be a contest to compete for the second place in their group league. Japan will come in it with a challenger’s spirit, looking to post their first win of the tournament.

Comments

FUJITANI So (Vissel Kobe U-18)
We finished the Azerbaijan game, and got to understand what brand of football our team really want to play better. For our next game against the Russia Under-17 team, I want to play reflecting on the Azerbaijan game and contribute to the team.

MIYOSHI Koji (Kawasaki Frontale U-18)
Having finished yesterday’s game, we checked on our detailed issues both on our offence and defence in a meeting. And I had recovery training and I believe that I was able to have good preparation both mentally and physically for tomorrow’s game. I want to score a goal to help the team win tomorrow.

SUGIMORI Koki (Nagoya Grampus U18)
I removed the fatigue from yesterday with recovery training today and I think I was able to have good preparation for tomorrow. We dropped our first game against Azerbaijan, so we want to put up a better performance with the entire team and finish with a better result tomorrow. Both individually and as a team, there was no goals for us in the first match, so we want to be particular about elaborating our shots so we can score some goals.

Schedule

*The schedule may be subject to change according to the team condition, the weather, etc. without notice.

The 27th Valentin Granatkin Memorial International Football Tournament Group Rosters

   Group A: Russia, Lithuania, Moldova
   Group B: Belarus, Estonia, Latvia
   Group C: Bulgaria, Slovenia, Kazakhstan
   Group D: Slovakia, Saint Petersburg, Greece
   Group E: Moscow, Korea Republic, Finland
   Group F: Japan, U-17 Russia National Team, Azerbaijan