Thursday, 11 September 2014

The following day after the loss against Australia, 98JAPAN already started their preparations for the semifinals. They will play the semifinal against their Asian rival, Korea, on 14 Sep. The four teams, which win their respective matches, will qualify for the 'FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015 Chile' in October next year. Japan are making the final adjustments for their important game. Before the practice sessions, the head coach Yoshitake noted: 'it's vital for them to improve themselves even more within the coming three days. We'll get ourselves ready to play with a clear and bright mind.'

They mainly practiced the play patterns in front of the goal. Although the players could dribble the ball up near the goal, it took too long to decide whether or not to shoot in the match against Australia. So they spent most of their time in fixing this issue.

Friday, 12 September 2014

The players started the training session at 3:00 in the afternoon in indescribable humidity with a temperature of nearly 40 degrees. They were very committed during the core training and short-distance sprints, which stimulate the muscle for the explosive force, before the training with the ball. Then they divided into two groups, one for the attack and the other for the defence. While the attacking group continued to work on the play patterns in front of the goal just like the day before, the defending group continuously practiced controlling the defensive line and switching their marks. In the end, they did a hand-passing game in a half-length pitch in order to acquire the right sense of distance and timing.

They watched a film ‘Handsome Suits’ together at the evening meeting. They learned about having ‘natural spirit’ and ‘caring about every small piece of happiness’ and all having the same feeling about playing ‘true to yourself’.

Commnets

FUJIMOTO Kanya（Tokyo Verdy Junior Youth）
I came off the bench in the second half of the match against Australia. Although I could control passing the ball as an anchor, I couldn’t pass forward as much as I wanted, which I’d like to fix for next time. I’m really looking forward to seeing how much we can play our style under rapid Korean pressure, where everyone has to play one-on-one as well.

ONOZAWA Toshiki（Cerezo Osaka U-18）
I don’t think we took enough care about our finishing in front of the goal or our last passes. Most of all, we weren’t determined to score enough. In today’s practice session, I put my heart and soul into each play. I’d like to play as a united team, as the match against Korea is for qualification for the World Cup.

Schedule