Under a cloudy sky, the team started with a longer meeting on the field on the first day. And they warmed up with running, ball exchanging and physical training, and then moved to a phase that they had passing drills in which they became five-man, four-man groups. In 6-on-6 practice in which their touches were limited, they repeatedly checked on their plays that they would aggressively pursue the opposing players and try to get the ball out quickly and find spaces behind defenders.

Head coach Vahid Halilhodzic put his eyes on the players' moves and gave advices to some of them, while he also taught how to kick feeds to the goalkeepers who were practicing separately. During practices for the field players, Halilhodzic brought a white board onto the pitch and explained things including how to move. Also, during the 6-on-6s and 11-on-11s, he occasionally call the players' names and encouraged by saying, “Good!” and “That's right!”

On the 11-on-11 practices, in which they would narrow the area and put mini goals at six places, they took a longer time. Players like forward OKUBO Yoshito (Kawasaki Frontale), who was called up for the first time since last year's FIFA World Cup, and first-timer forward ASANO Takuma scored goals.

As he finished the first practice, Asano said, “I was very nervous until I came to the practice, but I was able to enjoy the training after all, so I wound up entering better for someone who's here for the first time.”

The short training camp for short-listed squad is held for the first time under coach Halilhodzic, who took the helm in March. He came to the decision to hold it, expecting his players to have better understandings on his tactics and mining new talents, with the 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier Round 2, which will begin in June, and early August's EAFF East Asian Cup 2015 in sight. It is subjected for the J. League players, and a total of 28 players, including seven first-timers, are on the squad at the camp.

Players’ Comments

FW　OKUBO Yoshito (Kawasaki Frontale)
It does feel great to be on the national team. Coach is saying very severely on our disciplines and self-management, but I think it fits the Japanese players. He makes us to think that we really have to concentrate, and we feel his energy that much. We can work under a tense atmosphere, which is good and it makes us feel that we have to work hard. When we are on offence, we jump to run towards the goals and that's something we hadn't done previously, and defensively we make blocks and try to have counter attacks. As for me, I want to showcase my move to get behind the defenders as well as my scoring. Once I get worse, I think younger guys would be chosen, so I really think that I have to keep scoring.

FW　ASANO Takuma (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
I received congratulatory words from people around me and while I was pleased, I felt nervousness and responsibility, and I was thinking to channel that into a joy as I would get play. After the first day, I felt good. We have so many technical players around, but I have a feeling that I can compete on par and I rather think that I have got to do it. I can get dribble past defenders, get behind them and have quick, lateral attacks, and those are what I can do the best. I can do those as well as anyone and I want to show those. I want to do my best so I will put myself at a better position.

FW　SUGIMOTO Kenyu (Kawasaki Frontale)
Since I've not become a full-time regular player on the club, I think that it is actually a good opportunity for me to be called up on this team. I haven't talked with coach for a long time yet, but I was told that I should keep running. It is actually one of my issues to keep running, so I want to do it right, and I want to understand the tactics of this team and showcase myself to coach in these two days, and survive in the end. Once I get back to the club, it's important to do well on the team, and I think that will lead to my performance on the national team as well.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)