The U-23 Japan National Team, who are in France for the Toulon Tournament, had game-situation training on Thursday 19 ahead of their first match against Paraguay.

The team arrived in France on 16th and have improved their fitness on 17th and 18th for the upcoming matches. On 19th, with OHSHIMA Ryota, who did not join the team practice on 18th, coming back from sickness, the team started the practice session with the full squad except MINAMINO Takumi, who will join later.

Coach TEGURAMORI said to the players, "we have nothing but chances here in this tournament. You keep what you are aiming at in mind and go out with motivation." With that message, the young samurais showed lively moves from the beginning during a preparation exercise and power training.

Moving onto function training with two groups, one for offence and the other for defence, the squad went through reviewed distance between players and combinations. A game-style practice was held at the end. With intense plays just as they show in real games, they improved the quality of the team and motivation. The energetic players seemed to be giving it their all during the training.

In the evening, the coaching staff went out to observe four upcoming opponents. Paraguay beat Guinea 3-1 in the first match of the day and England defeated Portugal 1-0 in the second match as both teams earned three points in the first group league fixture. Japan will see action in the second fixture on 21st.

The tournament mandates the participating countries to bring referees with them. YAMAMOTO Yudai, YAGI Akane and TANAKA Toshiyuki took up a referee role in the tournament opener between Czech Republic and Mali.

On Friday 20 just a day before their first match against Paraguay, the squad will tune up in the afternoon for the important contest.

Players' Comments

DF #5  UEDA Naomichi (Kashima Antlers)
This tournament is valuable for my team and myself. As the Olympics are coming soon, we've got to improve ourselves more. We want to respect unique characteristics of each other and I will try to play my game.

I think it was a great opportunity to play in Saga, which is located near Kumamoto, when we had the Ghana match in the MS&AD Cup 2016 at that time on 11 May. Many people gave encouragement me. I realised there are people who can be cheered up by football and I felt like giving vigour to as many people as possible through football. In the Ghana match, I put on the captain's armband for the first time. It made me feel that I needed to show more leadership on the pitch even though I am not the team captain.

We got an Olympic spot in the January's final qualifying round as well as grabbed the Asian championship. That game gave confidence to the players who were on the squad at that time. After that, I have had opportunities to play in matches for my club in the league, but I need to grow more and more. I will work hard to keep getting playing time. As our coach says, we've got to not only focus on the Olympics but also be aware of the following World Cup. And I always have a sense of urgency I need to be called up to the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team).

We want to get a better result than the last four in the London Olympics and need to grow more to get a medal. I hope to get a good experience here in this tournament to make it a source of growth. And I think Kumamoto people will be also watching our match through TV, so when I play, I will try to show something that gives courage and hope to them.

FW #9  ONAIWU Ado (JEF United Ichihara Chiba)
I was called up as an addition, so I will get well prepared to take advantage of this chance. I want to capitalise on the given opportunity. And in the January's final qualifiers, I wasn't able to get individual results, so I will try to stick to that.

I want to showcase moves like aggressive reception of the ball upfront, approaches toward goal and dedicated defence. Olympics are the place where I can expand my possibility and it's great to play there as a Japanese representative.

And our coach told us that this tournament tells us what playing against the world is like. It expands my possibility, so I will work hard to adapt to the team. And playing with Hinomaru (national flag of Japan) is great. I will go out there with pride.

Schedule

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