Following a training camp between 11 and 13 April in Osaka, the U-19 Japan National Team short-listed squad were re-assembled for another training camp in Shizuoka Prefecture on 25 April. Before their first practice, they had a meeting and offered a silent prayer for those who passed away in the earthquakes in Kumamoto.

After that, the players got out to the field. Those who had just competed in games went through recovery training. Others did a passing and controlling practice using balls, and then moved to some practical menus such as a 5-on-5 plus 2 limiting the number of touches and 6-on-6. They paid attention to getting to the ball carrier quicker. On the 26th, they had training both in the morning and afternoon. On the 27th, which was the final day, they will play an exhibition game against Jubilo Iwata.

Players' Comments

SAKAI Daisuke (Oita Trinita)
I feel glad that I’ve been called up for this training camp for the Japan National Team short-listed squad. It’s only for three days, but we would like to share our team concept with the entire team and develop our team leading up to the AFC U-19 Championship in October. Since the earthquakes in Kumamoto and Oita, I’ve had some days that I couldn’t sleep myself. But I feel gratitude for what I can play football like this. We pray that the damages areas recover as soon as possible, while I would like to play at full throttle so I can give some energy to the people in those areas through football.

SUGIOKA Daiki (Ichiritsu Funabashi High School)
We did some passing drills with fewer touches like one touch or two touches and 6-on-6 games. Every one of had good distance between ourselves and were able to find ways to get through narrow spaces making some angles and having better tempos, so I think we did good training. We would like to develop our quality and share our thoughts, so we can carry them out in actual 11-on-11 games. Individually, it’s been a while since I’m on the national team, so while I try to understand the team concept, I would like to show my strengths so I can showcase myself in a short time.

NODA Hiroki (Gamba Osaka)
This is our second training camp this month. But each one of us has high motivation, and we have a good mood as we have high quality and energy. In order to put up what we can do the best in terms of both the content and result, we would like to have better preparation in the limited time. Meanwhile, my home suffered in the earthquake this time. I would like to appreciate that I can play football as usual and give some energy and courage to Kumamoto through football.

Schedule

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