On Tuesday 5 November, one day before their first match at the AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification, the U-18 Japan National Team held an official training session at the match venue, and coach KAGEYAMA Masanaga made his appearance at the official press conference.

At the press conference, coaches from the four teams in Group J took the podium, as coach Kageyama was joined by coaches from the U-18 Vietnam National Team, U-18 Guam National Team, and U-18 Mongolia National Team. With the tournament attracting major attention in Vietnam, the press conference lasted for nearly an hour where the media members asked many questions. Many questions were targeted towards the matchup between Japan and Vietnam, as former coach of the Japan National Team, coach Philippe TROUSSIER currently leads the U-18 Vietnam side. During the press conference, coach KAGEYAMA Masanaga shared his aspiration, “We know that our match against Vietnam is highly anticipated, but we will focus to give our very best performance from the first match and strive to improve ourselves through each match.”

Ahead of their first match against the U-18 Guam National Team on Wednesday 6, the U-18 Japan National Team welcomed back BANGNAGANDE Kashif and KAWAMOTO Riyo, who were away from the team due to their club’s matter, on Sunday 3, and saw KAWASAKI Sota join the team on Monday 4. The team trained for an hour at the match venue to prepare for the upcoming match.

Players' Comments

DF #4 NAKAMURA Takumi (FC Tokyo)
Despite winning our training match against Ryutsu Keizai University, we saw plenty of room for improvements. After arriving to Vietnam, we started by taking measures against the hot climate and working on our tasks we saw from our training match. We hope to showcase what we have been working on and play with confidence in our upcoming matches. There is always a unique difficulty when playing in Asia, but we will stay relaxed to enter the match and give our best efforts to showcase a positive performance.

DF #19 KIMURA Seiji (FC Tokyo)
I was disappointed when I wasn’t selected into the original squad, but now that I am called up to the team, I will give my best efforts to showcase my strengths. I have played with these players many times in the past, so I am sure I can make the adjustments. Since arriving to Vietnam, we have been making our adjustments to the hot climate and the pitch conditions, and the team has been able to train productively. We just need to get on the same page and get ourselves ready before the match. I will play in behalf of the players we had to leave the team prior to this tournament and give my very best effort to help the team win through the AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification.

MF #10 KAWASAKI Sota (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18)
I was very disappointed when I learned that my name wasn’t in the original 23-man roster for this AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification. However, now that I am with the team, I am feeling the honour to be a part of the Japan National Team. I have just arrived in Vietnam yesterday, and with the climate being so much hotter compared to Japan, I had a tough time getting used to it. We were given the opportunity to train at the actual match venue and get the feel of the stadium’s atmosphere and pitch condition. The competition will start tomorrow. Although we may face many adversities, we will showcase what we have worked on as a team and strive to earn the victory.

Schedule

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

AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification

Tournament Duration: Wed. 6 - Sun. 10 November 2019
Tournament Venue: Thong Nhat Stadium, Vietnam

Tournament Information