On the morning of Monday 17 October, the Japan National Beach Soccer Team departed from Haneda Airport to participate in the Super Cup of Nations in Santos, São Paulo (Brazil). Connecting flight in Dubai, the squad arrived at a hotel in Santos after midnight. Adding to the 30-hour travel time, almost all the players competed in the national tournament until the day before departure. After dinner, they rested in their hotel rooms.

On the following day, the squad members stayed in the hotel to recover from fatigue in the morning. At 16:00 in the afternoon, they had their first training at the tournament venue.

In the beginning, taking into consideration the fatigue from the national tournament matches and the long travel, the squad members had a lengthy warm-up session with running and stretching. Then, they had shooting exercises, trying to get accustomed to the local pitch (sand), and moved on to a game-format training with coach Marcelo MENDES. Today’s practice was conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, where the players were given the chance to recover from the fatigue and refresh their minds.

The practice sessions will be held tomorrow and the day after tomorrow in preparation for the opening match against Brazil on Friday 21 October.

Players' Comments

FP #12 ISO Hiroaki (Sol Mar Praia)
After the long travel, the training started today. I sincerely appreciate the chance of being able to play in this environment. In the tournament, we will be facing one of the top contenders of the World Cup, Brazil, in addition to the high quality national teams, Italy and Mexico. I am looking forward to these matches. There is no time to waste, as there are only a few days of training prior to the first game. I need to learn about the team tactics quickly and practice hard every day.

FP #5 NAKAHARA Yuki (Aveldage Kumamoto BS)
The first day of our training camp in Brazil focused on recovery from the long travel and the national beach soccer tournament, in addition to adjusting to the local time. We will be facing Brazil and Italy in this trip. I personally have bad memories playing against Brazil, and from there on I have been working hard. I want to showcase my improved skills and contribute to the victory of the team.

We are looking sharp considering that we played well against Tahiti (in a pair of international friendly matches) and won the Asian Beach Games. We want to take this momentum into the tournament and maintain the ‘in-form’ condition through the Cup of Nations.

Schedule

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