31 October (Mon.)

One month after the AFC U-16 Championship, where they ended as the runners-up of the competition and qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017, “00 JAPAN” or the U-16 Japan National Team short-listed squad re-started their activities. This time, they will be having a training camp at J-GREEN Sakai in Sakai city, Osaka.

Twenty five members are selected for this camp. Sixteen of them were born between 1 January and 1 September 2000 and were called up for the first time. They could not be a part of the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 in September due to tournament regulations.

The U-16 squad will play training matches against Riseisha High School on their second day and against Cerezo Osaka U-18 and Gamba Osaka Youth on their third day of the camp at J-GREEN Sakai.

In the opening meeting, coach MORIYAMA Yoshiro told the players: “the U-16 Japan National Team still has a lot to improve compared to the U-19 Japan National Team, who captured the title of the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016, and the U-17 Japan Women’s National Team, who were the runner-up in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016. If you don’t have the right mindset and start considering yourself as a football player and spend your days wisely, then you simply cannot compete well against the top teams in the world. I intentionally did not invite the squad members of the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016. I want all of you show in this camp that you can be a part of the U-16 National Team by playing better than them.

In the afternoon, the team kicked off their training sessions, where they went through the similar drills from the previous U-16 camp in 1-on-1 and 3-on-2 and 4-on-4 and 7-on-7 with the goalkeeper. Their quiet mood in the beginning and the first mealtime changed drastically, and all the players started to raise their voice and practiced with a high level of concentration. Intense battles amongst each other were also seen during these sessions. Especially, the forwards played very aggressively and they scored many times. As coach Moriyama encouraged the players by saying ‘maximise your advantages’, they showed a series of positive responses to this challenge and the first day ended in a good mood.

On Tuesday 1 Novermber, they will have two-a-day training sessions in the morning and afternoon.

Note: “00 Japan” is the nickname of the team led by players born in 2000.

Players' Comments

GK MATSUDA Ryo (Higashi Fukuoka High School)
I was happy to be called up this time and I want to attain a positive result by showing good performances. In the first session, I was surprised to experience the offensive players’ strengths. Their accuracy level was high. Many of them fired brilliant shots from tight angles which require excellent skills. I felt I needed to speed-up my responses to these shots. To stay in this squad, I have to have a strong mindset, so I want to improve the mental aspect of my game. Tomorrow, I will pay closer attention to improving the transition speed between offence and defence, while making good passes with a clear intent.

DF OKAI Toshinori (Ichiritsu Funabashi High School)
I am very pleased to be called up for the first time. This is where I exactly wanted to be, so I just want to capitalise on this opportunity. We spend two hours in training today, but I have learned a lot of things from the staff members and my teammates. There are many types of players including those who possess speed and excellent skills in dribbling and finishing. Personally, I want to display my strengths in crosses and side-attacks. Even after going back to my team, I will continue to work hard capitalizing on the experience from this camp.

MF MATSUMOTO Hiroya (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Youth)
I am very happy to be selected for the National Team which I have kept dreaming about since my childhood. In this special environment, there are many things I can learn. I want to clarify my issues as well as my strengths and work hard in my daily training.

In the training today, I have shown persistence in defence and initiative in offence by aggressively taking shots. In this camp I want to challenge different things, while learning from my teammates to improve my football skills. Even though the time is limited, I hope we can get along well by talking to each other and practice and play the training matches in a positive mood.

FW SAKAKIBARA Keigo (Yokohama F・Marinos Youth)
When I heard that I was the one who was called up, I was quite surprised. This is a great chance for me to play for the U-16 Japan National Team, so I will do my best to display my strength. The level of the other players is also high, which made me nervous in the beginning, but gradually I settled down and started to showcase my strengths—timing of receiving passes and hard work in defence. I enjoyed the practice sessions today.

Furthermore, I believe my biggest strength is ‘through pass’, so I want to coordinate my efforts with the forward players and show them on the pitch. I also want to play dynamically, taking away any disadvantage  I may have from my smaller physique.

Schedule

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