The second day was finished at the training camp for the U-22 Japan National Team short-listed squad.

Including 11 of them who arrived either the night before or the morning of 24 November, the full squad of 25 young Samurais assembled in Hiratsuka.

Before the training of the day, locally-produced rice were kindly presented to the team by Hiratsuka City mayor OCHIAI Katsuhiro together with his words of encouragement.

The weather was totally different from that of the day before with the warm temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. While defender TAKAHASHI Yuji (Kamatamare Sanuki), midfielders YAJIMA Shinya (Fagiano Okayama) and KAWABE Hayao (Jubilo Iwata) who played a long stretch in their respective J2 contest on the previous day went through recovery regimen, the rest of 22 players worked on passing and ball controlling, possessions, and formations before wrapping up the two-hour practice with 9-on-9 game-style drills.

With coach TEGURAMORI passionately instructing from the sideline, the players showed great deal of enthusiasm on the pitch for the final qualifiers to be held in January next year.

The team are scheduled to practice in the morning and afternoon on Wednesday 25 November.

Coach and Players' Comments

TEGURAMORI Makoto, Coach
I said to the players "we are in a difficult time, but I want you all to be prepared so that we can select anybody." We expect the final qualifiers to be difficult and tough competitions, but when we finish going through them, this generation of players will have improved enough to lead the future of Japan’s football. When we go out to the world, there are no easy matches.

This is just the second day of the camp, but I can feel the passion of this generation. I have no doubt that there is something in this group that can achieve big things. This team have their goal as winning a medal in the Olympics, but when you think about the whole picture of Japan’s football, their development is indispensable for doing well in the World Cup. We want to get ourselves fired up to reach that level and select players who are ready for the final qualifiers.

MF  ENDO Wataru (Shonan Bellmare)
This camp is right after the SAMURAI BLUE activity, I have reset my mindset for this. How we can prepare for the final qualifiers as a team is very important from this point on. We want to make sure to share the same mindset and same heart to battle together. This year, I have experienced many good things, but at the same time this year made me feel that I want to get better more. I want to take advantage of these experiences for my improvement.

As a team, intensity on the ball and quick transition between plays are the minimum things we have got to do. Plus we have got to execute what our coach Teguramori aims, which are "defending and attacking altogether" and "flexibility and rationality". It will be good if we can understand where we stand in the course of 90 minutes, play according to each game situation and grab the win in the end. Shonan Bellmare supporters also care a lot about U-22 National Team. So I want to make sure to survive the final qualifiers and give a good report to those people supporting us.

DF  SATO Kazuki (Nagoya Grampus)
It’s my first national team activity after a long absence, so I was a little nervous but it was fun. I was personally in a difficult time, so this call-up made me very happy. It was really disappointing when we lost in the AFC U-19 Championship 2012, and it has been my goal to be on this national team.

I want to make sure to execute what coach Teguramori tells us to do, and I also show my strengths which are my aggressive style of play and cross balls. To have our national flag on my kit is a great experience that makes me a better person and better football player. I will stay focused for the rest of the camp and take every moment of it very seriously to work hard.

MF  KAWABE Hayao (Jubilo Iwata)
The practice had a sense of urgency and off the pitch the teams are also coming together. I want to blend in with this team smoothly. To stay on the team until the final qualifiers, I want to keep playing hard and at the same time make good plays that translate into winning. Those are my trademark style. I haven’t scored any goal and made any assist for this team. I haven’t made any tangible result. So I want to showcase myself not only by playing hard but also by leaving tangible results.

We lost in the AFC U-19 Championship 2014, so we have to battle with that disappointment in ourselves. We want to win through tough battles in Asia and play against even better teams in the world.

Schedule