On 12 April, the second day of the camp in Shizuoka, the U-23 Japan National Team short-listed squad had training both in the morning and in the afternoon.

In the morning, the players had a recovering session in J-STEP. All of them had a core muscle training session, then and the players who are particularly tired had walking in the swimming pool to recover their condition. 

The afternoon training was held on the pitch. In the chilly weather, they started a possession practice through passing & control session with 5 players. Then they had agility training, and another practice to improve their combination accuracy throughout their play. At the end they had a practice game with 6-on-4 + 4 -on-6 + goalkeeper. The 5 new players who have recently been called up for the first time understood the team’s tactics well, and all players developed their combination in both offence and defence; indeed they expressed what the team’s Coach TEGURAMORI expects –improvement of younger Japanese players.

After dinner, there was a meeting for the match against Shimizu S-Pulse which is planned on the following day. They firstly checked the team’s concept and tactics, and then the Coach Teguramori passionately encouraged the players: “all of you have to be ready to take responsibility to show the potential of this U-23 Japan National Team. You are also highly expected to show off your possibility as a squad player on the pitch. ”The meeting finished in a tense mood, and the players looked highly motivated.

Today, 13 April, the match against Shimizu S-Pulse is kicking off soon. 

Players' Comments

DF  KAMEKAWA Masashi (Avispa Fukuoka)
We had an unexpectedly long journey to the previous trip to Portugal last month, but if I think about the journey, it was a good experience for me. SAMURAI BLUE, the Japan National Team, players can always make good performances in the similar situation. I understood their level of preparation and mentality is very high. That is how squad players need to be and I think that this should be the standard for me, too.  

I have gradually gained experiences in playing against foreign teams, yet I have fewer experiences in playing against non-Asian teams than the other players in my age group. In the last trip to Portugal, I could feel the differences between European teams and Asian teams. I just want to challenge myself to find out how much I can achieve in this team. What is the best in match experience is to learn by winning, not by losing. We want to keep winning the future matches, so tomorrow we want to beat Shimizu S-Pulse. 

MF  HASHIMOTO Kento (F.C. Tokyo)
I was happy when I was short-listed this time, since The U-23 Japan National Team is the place I kept aiming to be. I believed that I could be picked if I could make good performances for my club team, so I concentrated on doing well in the team. This camp has such a limited time, but I am trying to make a good impression both in offence and defence. Particularly, stealing the ball is my advantage, so I try my best to do this. This is the most important thing for me. 

Today, I could show some good plays. I will have to play well in the match, too. Tomorrow, I want to try my best in both offence and defence with my aggressive attitude. This is my first time to play under Teguramori’s coaching, but his talk is easier for me to understand and he is also funny. I have got a very good inspiration from him. Especially his words “play with a worldwide mentality“ have stayed in my mind and that indeed changed my attitude. 

MF  MAEDA Naoki (Yokohama F・Marinos)
Last year, I could constantly play in the J.1 League matches and was called up to this team; it seemed to be like everything was going well. However, after that I certainly had a difficult time by not being selected as a squad player at the Final Qualifier and I also wasn’t selected to play on the pitch in my new club team. This challenging experience instilled in me a positive meaning and all I will do is just going higher and higher. If I can make good performances in my team, I believe that I can be called up again, so I continue to do my best. 

While I have not played often in the J. League, I got this chance to play for the squad team. It is up to me if I can maximise this chance or not. I want to make good performances in the match against Shimizu S-Pulse and also in my team. I am so grateful for Teguramori for calling me up in this occasion; I think this implies some message from him. Considering the meaning that I was called this time, I want to play well for my positive future as a player. 

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

Schedule

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