Tue. 17 September
A night after their AFC Championship qualifying round opener against Mongolia, the 00JAPAN had training in the morning. While the players who played yesterday had light training such as stretching and running, the others who did not play worked up a good sweat.They had 3-on-3, 4-on-4 and 5-on-5 games with goalkeepers to go through shifting moves between offence and defence, and situational positioning and covering.

Every player refreshed his mind for the next match. It was impressive that the players who played the last match encouraged the substitutes aloud from the sidelines.

In the afternoon, the young Japanese visited the suburbs of Ulaanbaatar and learned Mongolian history, customs and culture even in a limited time. At night, the squad went to a Japanese restaurant in Ulaanbaatar to restore their energy. They celebrated KATSURA Rikuto's birthday, enjoying the time with a surprise and laughter.

Wed. 18 September
Before the morning session started, Youth Development Director KIMURA Kokichi gave bracing words to the team, saying" I want you to understand your situation that you haven't got the ticket to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 yet and haven't won through the final qualifying round to be held in India next year.The real battle is the match against Hong Kong coming up day after tomorrow. You go all out to work hard for the next one."

Starting with passing drills, they reviewed attacking combinations in front of goal with a 4-on-3 and 5-on-4. An 11-a-side intrasquad game was held at the end.

In the evening, the Japanese squad watched the match between U-15 Hong Kong National Team and U-15 Mongolia National Team. With their own challenge against Hong Kong being just two days to go, the players were seriously observing the match to find out the opposing players' traits and who to watch out.

The 00JAPAN will work on the final practice tomorrow before the big match against U-15 Hong Kong National Team.

* ”00 JAPAN” is the nickname of the U-15 Japan National Team that consists of members who were born after 2000.

Players' Comments

DF   KIKUCHI Kenta (JFA Academy Fukushima U15)
We watched the Hong Kong-Mongolia match. Both teams were playing hard committing their body. As I didn't have a chance to play the Mongolia match, I'm focused during training more. I'm very well prepared to play the next match. The team's mood is very good, and we will continue to be focused in the training tomorrow so that we can definitely win it whoever gets the playing time.

MF   KIDA Hinata (Cerezo Osaka U-15)
Our team's atmosphere is getting better every day just like at the dinner time yesterday. With keeping this mood until the end, we will try to qualify for the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 and open the door to the world stage.

We watched the match between Hong Kong and Mongolia today.Whoever comes as the opponents, if we can show our style of football that we've worked on, everything works out for the best. We will continue to make a good preparation tomorrow.

MF   KATSURA Rikuto (Sanfrecce Hiroshima Junior Youth)
Hong Kong were intense on the ball and sending long balls behind defensive line. I felt we needed to be careful of them. But by putting pressure up front, we can grab chances. We will try to be collective and go aggressively.

I was given a celebration for my birthday yesterday. The team's mood is good and communication between players is very active. Everyone has a shared understanding for the next match. We will get together to definitely get through the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 Qualifiers.

Schedule

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