One day after their game against the Paraguay squad, the U-17 Japan Women's National Team resumed their practice at 16:30 on October 5, where the temperature began to drop. They were divided into two groups, where one focused on recovery, while the other went through regular training.

In their training session, the players worked on passing and controlling exercises and possession drills and later on played a practice match, keeping in mind the actual game situations. They wrapped up with shooting practice in the end.

After the training, they had a UNICEF-organised exchange event with Syrian girls, who live at a Zaatari refugee camp. They came over to the practice field of the national team. Since they are detained at the refugee camp and cannot freely go outside, they were looking forward to this special occasion.

The event started with the words from NAGANO Fuka. “Let's enjoy today!” They were divided into four groups and played mini games. In the end, they played penalty shootouts with coach KOBAYASHI Shinobu. The participants had smiles on their faces throughout the event.

The Japan team will have another practice tomorrow to prepare for their game against the United States on the Saturday 8.

Players' Comments

MF #13 KARAHASHI Mayu (ALBIREX NIIGATA LADIES U-18)
After our practice, we played mini games with the Syrian girls. They were girls of close ages, but they are living under totally different circumstances from ours. I don't know what kind of living they are having, but we were able to become friends by playing football in a short period of time. We enjoyed interacting with them, and we had a great time with smiles throughout the event.

We have two more days to prepare for our next game against the United States, I would like to get ready for it both physically and mentally with the team.

MF #10 NAGANO Fuka (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth)
It was a short period of time, but we had so much fun and the time passed by so quickly. We got to know that the Syrian girls are living under circumstances that we can't even imagine. It made me think we are privileged that we can enjoy football and we need to appreciate the environment we are living. We will try to get the win in our next game against the United States.

Schedule

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