The U-19 Japan National Futsal Team short-listed squad kicked-off their training camp on 8 November in Aichi Prefecture in preparation for the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship next May. Under coach SUZUKI Ryuji, a total of 18 players was assembled. Among the members, some were called up from regular football, which gave the team something that they hadn't seen it before in the national futsal squad.

Before they started the practice, they had a meeting, in which their coaching staff introduced themselves while they shared the objectives of the camp.

“We'll start our activities towards next year's AFC U-20 Futsal Championship,” coach Suzuki told his players. “When you are competing for the spot in the national team, you are going to have to work with the pride and responsibility at this camp.”

They went through stamina measurement tests with their physical coach, MURAOKA Makoto. After that, they did some light passing to get their bodies warmed up, while they also attempted to get know each other. Then, they practiced on creating depths in open space and worked on receiving the ball and creating scoring chance, while checking on the fundamentals of playing futsal such as drawing and receiving passes.

After that, they worked on 2-on-2s in a half-sided court and 3-on-3s in a wider area. In the practice sessions, the instructions were given so that they will be on the same page offensively in the game settings, know how to use the full lengths of the pitch, and get used to coordinating plays with one other teammate. The training lasted for about two hours, but they had a fruitful one from the very first day with players showing concentrated facial expressions.

Players' Comments

SHIMIZU Kazuya (FUGADOR SUMIDA)
While we have some players that have been newly added to this team, I think we had an intense but great practice. We would like to work together more as a team, meeting the expectations of our futsal our coach. Ahead of the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship, we are aiming to become a competitive squad.

YAMADA Masataka (FUCHU ATHLETIC F.C. SATELLITE)
My first training camp in the national squad since I recovered from injury has begun. It was the first day, but we started with hard dashing and developed our collectiveness offensively like when we played with two men. Also, it's been a while for me to be on the national team and I was fully inspired to play with the style of this team. Everybody has his own category in the leagues they play, but we are focused to switch our mind-set for the national team towards the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship next May.

MATSUBARA Tomohiro (NAGOYA OCEANS SATELLITE)
It was our first training for the national team today. We mainly worked on offence, but I got to know so many new things and hopefully I will understand the team's concept as firmly as possible. Every one of us shall have a mind-set to compete inside the team and I would like to display what I can do in the team. I'll do my best towards the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship next May.

Schedule

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