On the second day of the Spain trip, Japan National Women’s U-23 Team worked mainly on skills and tactics directly related to upcoming matches with their eyes on the first match in the La Manga U-23 Women’s Tournament against the United States. 

After warming-up, they first worked on fundamentals such as passing and ball controlling before they moved on to three on three with two neutral players and five on five with one neutral player to emphasise possessing the ball. They are aware that it is important for them to move the ball effectively by having the third player, which is another player besides a passer and a receiver, read the situation well and move accordingly. Meanwhile, goalkeepers trained mostly on how to deal with cross balls. In the afternoon, they went through set-pieces such as corner-kicks and free-kicks in simulation for the match on the next day. Finally, an intra-squad match wrapped up the day’s practice.

Comments

TAKAKURA Asako, Head Coach
We have built this team in a short period of time for preparation by everybody playing their own styles aggressively. We need some more time to create better combination both in offence and defence, but I want our players to solve problems within matches by themselves and improve the team further. This U-23 team is one of the generational teams, but we will have pride and feel the responsibility as Nadeshiko Japan and play against a great team like the United States.

KATO Chika（Urawa Reds Ladies）
As we had more and more training, I think I have got able to play with my teammates better. The first match is tomorrow, so I will make sure that I will be in good shape. We know winning it is important, but we will also care about how we play and win. We will get ready as one team and do our best.

TANAKA Mariko（Sfida Setagaya FC）
In the morning training, we practiced on possessing the ball and in the afternoon it was more of situational drills and set-pieces. Tomorrow we have the first match against the United States. It has not been long since this team got started, but in spite of that we want to communicate well and play a meaningful match. We want to play as one team and get a win.

HAMADA Haruka（Vegalta Sendai Ladies）
In the morning, we did passing and controlling drills. I was reminded of the importance of not only the basic skills like stopping and kicking the ball but also reading the next play and getting ready for it by always having better vision. In tomorrow’s match, I will do my best to always get prepared, play the way the opponents don’t want us to play and score a goal.