On 30 November, Japan Futsal National Team travelled by bus for three hours from Zagreb to Osijek, where the second match against Croatia is to be held.

Immediately after the arrival, they organised a video review session for the team. After they looked back the first match there, they went out to the venue of the second match and worked out. The practice was centred on recovery regimen in order to remove fatigue from the previous match and traveling, before going through set pieces in the end for the match on the next day.

International Friendly Match  vs  Croatia Futsal National Team
Match 2nd   7 p.m. kickoff, on 1 December

Players' Comments

NISHITANI Ryosuke (FUGADOR SUMIDA)
We moved on to the next match venue one day after the last match. After the arrival, we had a meeting before the training to review the way we played in the Croatia match. Especially we shared necessary corrections to our defence as a team, and we were able to organise our thoughts in preparation for the next match.

I felt Croatia were more accurate in making plays and more complete as a team than the last time we played against them last year. Even though the opponents are like that, we want to show what we can do, pay attention to details and play as a team to put up a good result.

SATO Toru (SHRIKER OSAKA)
We could come out for the match with some idea on how Croatia would play, because we played an international friendly against them last year in Japan. But I found out they were faster and stronger than the last time, and before getting adjusted to it, we allowed them to attack us first and take the initiative of the match.

I didn’t think we were inferior in terms of our skills and tactics, but we lacked intensity overall to show our aggressive defence, which is like our lifeline. As a result, we failed to play to our rhythm throughout the match. Even when it is a friendly, national teams are expected to leave a good result. No matter how it will be, we want to get a win in the second match against Croatia tomorrow, and I want to help my team do that.

Schedule

*Local time
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, etc.