Under the clear winter sky, the Japan national Under-15 team began their first training camp of the year at J-Green Sakai (Sakai, Osaka Prefecture). The team will look to qualify through the qualifier in the AFC Under-16 Championship in September to earn a berth in next year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup. This time, the team of 28 consisted mainly of members from western Japan. Another training camp will be held in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, next week for members from eastern Japan.

Before the training, the 28 players and 16 staff members assembled and had a meeting. Because it was the first training camp of the Under-15 squad, they invited representatives from the U-22 and U-18 squads to tighten bonds between the generations; and attempted to share their ambitions in football.

"What you need to aim at is the FIFA World Cup as Japan national team players," head coach Moriyama told the players. "We want you to think not that you want to, but that you will definitely become national team players. In order to achieve that, you have to change your mentality as well as your daily training. Our goal for this is to make it to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India. During this camp, we want each of you to have focus on your own area that needs improvement, and to raise your own levels. Also, we want you to communicate with team mates, in order for this to be a stimulating experience to you."

On Day One of the camp, they worked on ball trainings such as 2-on-1s and 5-on-3s. They focused on individual skills, such as positioning as ball receives, distances in supporting with other players and timingand training staff gave them strict instructions. They seemed a little passive due to nervousness early on, but once they started playing 5-on-5s and 6-on-6s involving goalkeepers, they began communicating with each other and showing active participation.

In a post-dinner meeting chief doctor Tomatsuri gave a lecture to the players on nutrition and doping and trainer Matsuodani spoke about self-conditioning and the importance of daily training. In the end, they watched individual play films of world-class players to learn about the significance of positioning and wide vision to wrap up the meeting. They had two practice sessions, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, on the following day. They were asked to display what they learned on the pitch.

Players' Comments

TANI Kousei(Gamba Osaka Junior Youth)
Because this is my first training camp for the provisional national team players, I was a little nervous at the beginning, but as we got to learn about the goal the team was supposed to aim at and plays we were asked to show by the head coach, I gradually was able to show my own performance. I recognize my weaknesses, so I would like to improve communication with my teammates from tomorrow so I can exhibit my strengths as much as possible.

TOKUNAGA Haruto(Jubilo Iwata U-15)
Everybody was so advanced and I was a little hesitant early on, but as I got to keep training, I got used to it. I have so many things to study as a defender, such as switching to defence and the importance of positioning, so I would like to play tomorrow, too. We have a big room so it's been easier for us to get to know each other, and I would like to communicate more with the team mates. I want to keep my condition I could have so I can go full-throttle in our morning practice tomorrow.

Schedule

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