For the KIRIN CUP SOCCER 2016 to be held in early June, SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) players playing outside the Japan began training in Chiba on Tuesday 24 May.

On the first day, six players gathered after their respective European season, including goalkeeper KAWASHIMA Eiji (Dundee United Football Club), defenders NAGATOMO Yuto (FC Internazionale Milano), YOSHIDA Maya (Southampton FC), SAKAI Gotoku (Hamburger Sport-Verein), and two players from Hannover 96, defender SAKAI Hiroki and midfielder KIYOTAKE Hiroshi. They worked on running, trunk training and physical training with the ball for more than an hour and a half.

Defender UCHIDA Atsuto (Schalke 04), midfielder YAMAGUCHI Hotaru (Hannover 96) and forward MUTO Yoshinori (1.FSV Mainz 05), who are now undergoing rehabilitation after injury, also joined the team, working out separately on the same pitch.

Coach Vahid HALILHODZIC accompanied the players, running together as he always does. In the trunk training, he showed push-ups, which was appraised by the players with cheers.

The national team's activity is for the first time since the 2018 FIFA World Cup Second Qualifiers. The Japan boss said, "In this camp, I will assign different levels of workload for each player. Countries coming to the KIRIN CUP got a better reputation than us on physical strength and power. We want to get ready as well as we can."

"I want to call up many players this time. I'm planning to call up two new young players," said the Japan boss about the KIRIN CUP squad to be announced on Thursday 26. "I'm not sure if I play them, but I want to see how they react."

Sakai Gotoku said he had been working out since getting back to Japan. "I will try to get in shape in stages and get the on-season performance back.

The overseas-based players' training continues until Saturday 29 May before beginning full-squad practice with domestic players added on Sunday 30.

The KIRIN CUP SOCCER 2016 is competed among four countries in the knockout system. While Japan face Bosnia Herzegovina on Friday 3 June, Bulgaria and Denmark square off on the same day. The winners and losers in those matches face off each other on Tuesday 7 June in the final and the third-placed match respectively. The matches on Friday 3 take place at Toyota Stadium in Aichi, and those on Tuesday 7 are held at Suita City Stadium in Osaka.

Coach and Players' Comments

Vahid HALILHODZIC, Coach of SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team)
Strong teams come to the KIRIN CUP. We need to get ready with ambition and determination against the opponents who've got better physical strength and power. We are trying to surprise you all before heading for the final qualifying round. Some players have kept playing their league matches and the others have not. I want to make sure what their condition really is. I called up injured players because I wanted to check on how their recovery is going. As long as they are in Japan, and being with the group, they can create some good mood together. They actually seemed happy to get back to the group. We will get ourselves ready for the final qualifying round as well.

MF  KIYOTAKE Hiroshi (Hannover 96)
I didn't feel the practice was hard today. That was good for the first training. It's a valuable time for Japan National Team to play against European teams in the KIRIN CUP, and I'm looking forward to see how we can play as a team. I hope we can get off to a good start for the final qualifying round.

DF  SAKAI Gotoku (Hamburger Sport-Verein)
Calling out to each other during a hard time is important and brings solidarity. And we can do that in this camp, so I want to work out as I enjoy the time here. As we play against European players in this tournament, we as a team and I myself can try out a lot of things. (During the visit to the disaster area of the Kumamoto Earthquake), I hope they feel the joy in football even for an hour and forget about the earthquake so that they can have something they can hold on to in each and every day. I believe we can give them a big dream, hope and courage through football, and we get Hinomaru (Japanese national flag) on our chest in that sense. We will be responsible for it and play for the sake of people in Kumamoto.

DF  YOSHIDA Maya (Southampton FC)
I've worked on training with an eye for this prep camp. In the KIRIN CUP, we've got things to continue and things to test. Whether we can get through what we are trying to do on defence and offence against the high-level opponents, it is a good opportunity to try out for the next stage. Playing against two European countries, who we don't have so many chances to meet, means a lot to us. We want to make it productive.

KIRIN CUP SOCCER 2016

Held in knockout system among SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team), Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Denmark.

2016-6-3 (Fri.) Aichi/Toyota Stadium
16:00 kick-off (subject to change)  Bosnia Herzegovina National Team vs Denmark National Team
19:40 kick-off (subject to change)  SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) vs Bulgaria National Team

2016-6-7 (Tue,) Osaka/Suita City Football Stadium
16:00 kick-off (subject to change)  Bosnia Herzegovina National Team or Denmark National Team vs Bulgaria National Team
19:30 kick-off (subject to change)  SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) vs Bosnia Herzegovina National Team or Denmark National Team

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