U-15 Japan National Team departed from Japan and arrived to their camp site in Italy after 18 hours of travel on the evening of Saturday 22 April to participate in “The 14th Delle Nazioni Tournament” competed across three neighboring countries—Italy, Austria and Slovenia. On the arrival date, the team did not hold a regular practice, but instead took a walk around their hotel, before they put up a good sweat from light jogging and stretching to keep up their fitness for training.

On the following day (Sunday 23 April), the team had training only in the morning. After 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercises, they went through passing and controlling drills. Despite the brevity of their first practice in Italy, they had a highly-focused work-out lasting for about an hour and 20 minutes. In the afternoon, the organisers of the competition invited the team to the home stadium of Udinese of Serie A, where they latter watched the Serie A league match, Udinese vs Cagliari.

Japan will be placed in the same group as Italy, Portugal and United Arabs Emirates (UAE) and will face the UAE in their opening match on Tuesday 25 April.

Players' Comments

DF #12 FURUZONO Takumi（JFA Academy Fukushima U-15)
After assembling the team, we travelled a long way to Italy, but we are being able to practice in an excellent mood within the team. We held a meeting right after arrival to reconfirm what each individual has to do in the team. In the today’s training, everyone understood well his task and played superbly on the pitch. Now, we need to make a good preparation for the opening match.

DF #16 YOKOKAWA Asahi（Shonan Bellmare U-15 Hiratsuka)
Since this was my first call-up for the national team, I was slightly worried prior to the arrival, but after the first training, I felt a bit more comfortable after sharing many ideas with my teammates on the pitch. We are aiming to win this competition, and it will require the entire team to be united and work together for the win. In order to attain such a result, I will constantly be thinking about how to contribute to my team and give my best effort.

MF #7 NISHIKAWA Jun (Toko Gakuen High School)
I am making appearance in this tournament for the second consecutive year. Last year, we got through many tough matches and advanced to the final, but unfortunately ended-up as runners-up of the competition. This year, I will be looking to avenge the previous year’s loss and claim the title. Furthermore, this will be an excellent opportunity to reflect back on my previous year’s performance and compare it with my current level of football as I compete through this tournament. Not only myself, but I am also looking forward to see the Japanese team grow by experiencing this tournament as well.

FW #17 OSAWA Tomoya (Omiya Ardija Junior Youth)
I am participating in the national team camp for the first time, and along with the long travel and time difference, I felt a bit tired. Despite the brevity of the first training, every exercise was meaningful and I had a fruitful practice on that date. Looking at the Serie A match, the competition for the ball was fierce, and I felt there is a lot more to be learned from watching those matches. This international tournament will be an excellent stage to challenge the world, and I am looking forward to take on such challenge to actually see how much I can perform against the world’s top teams, at the same time looking for concrete results.

Schedule

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