SAMURAI BLUE began training at their base camp in Kazan on Thursday 14 June ahead of their first group match against Colombia to be held on Tuesday 19 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

Despite the sunny weather, the temperature did not rise over 14 degrees. In the gentle spring-like sunshine and the chilly weather not so typical in June for them, the Japanese squad assembled at the FC Rubin Kazan's training site. Coach NISHINO Akira urged his players to show their focus at their highest level possible, saying, "How well we prepare from now on will lead directly to the results."

The team started the session with a light jog. Then, the field players tuned up in two groups depending on their playing time in the Paraguay match held at the end of the Austria camp on the 12th.

After warming up, seven players who logged longer minutes, including KAGAWA Shinji (Borussia Dortmund) and SHIBASAKI Gaku (Getafe C.F.) who played the entire match against Paraguay, conducted a conditioning regimen such as core trainings in the facility.

On the other hand, the rest of the players including OSAKO Yuya (Werder Bremen), one of the substitutes, and HASEBE Makoto (Eintracht Frankfurt), who did not get onto the pitch at all, worked on fundamentals including pace running and dribbling in pairs before playing a seven-on-seven small-sided game with two goalkeepers, placing four mini goals in a small area.

OHSHIMA Ryota (Kawasaki Frontale), who had worked out separately from the main group until the day before the Paraguay match, joined the team partially, while OKAZAKI Shinji (Leicester City Football Club) and SHOJI Gen (Kashima Antlers) worked on their own for precautionary measures due to calf strain on both legs and right thigh strain respectively.

As all the World Cup participating teams are required to hold at least one practice session opened to the public during their World Cup campaign, as the FIFA Open Day, Japan elected to designate this first training session in Kazan for that occasion. Approximately 500 people visited the practice.

Among them were 20 students from Moscow's Japanese school visiting from Moscow and 40 academy players from the local club FC Rubin Kazan's junior class. The total of 60 players had a commemorative photo session with the Japanese squad on the pitch. The kids showed smiles getting autographs on their favourite item such as small Hinomaru (Japanese national flag) and shirts.

Once the practice session began, they curiously watched on to the players behind the scene, which they do not usually have a chance to observe.

Earlier this day, the FIFA Arrival Meeting was held at the team hotel as a newly introduced system, VAR (Video Assistant Referee), was explained for an hour.

Japan, who is entering their sixth consecutive, sixth overall World Cup, will face Colombia on the 19th in Saransk, Senegal on the 24th in Ekaterinburg, and Poland on the 28th in Volgograd after tuning-up in Kazan prior to each match.

Players' Comments

FP #3 SHOJI Gen (Kashima Antlers)
I experienced VAR in the FIFA Club World Cup against Atlético Nacional. Back then, the system worked in favour of us, but they had to stop the match after the play continued on for about five minutes, so we learned the importance of staying focused. Our first opponent, Colombia is a very strong team. We just need to stay calm, believe in ourselves, turn on our match-mode and keep our focus. We have some players on this squad who played against Columbia four years ago. I will learn from them and do my best to effectively organise all the information ahead of the match.

FP #5 NAGATOMO Yuto (Galatasaray S.K.)
Arriving here in Kazan is uplifting, but speaking of myself, my mental switch is already on since I dyed my hair. Since we hadn’t won a match for six months, the win against Paraguay created some smiles and positive vibes among us. This tournament will be our last opportunity to play with this squad, so I don’t want to leave any regrets. I want to get the best result possible with these teammates.

FP #7 SHIBASAKI Gaku (Getafe C.F.)
Looking at this city, it has a stronger mood of the World Cup than where we held our camp previously. We have four or five days to prepare ahead of the first match, but we just need to prepare ourselves as we normally do and go out to the first match with a good condition. We will have more detailed analysis for the Colombia match, but I personally want to pay more attention to set-pieces. I managed to gain a positive image during the Paraguay match, so I want to raise the accuracy of my kick to utilise as many set-pieces as possible to score goals.

FP #8 HARAGUCHI Genki (Fortuna Dusseldorf)
After seeing the town of Kazan, it made me realise that the tournament is really upon us. In Austria, we managed to conduct good practice sessions under a relaxing atmosphere. This place is a very good place for us to focus on football. While we will relax when we can, we will be focused when it’s necessary. I believe in what my teammates and I have built up. Even in the group stage, we only have one shot in this tournament, so we need to defuse the strength of our opponents.

FP #9 OKAZAKI Shinji (Leicester City Football Club)
From this point on, we will start analysing Colombia, so there will be discussions on what kind of style we will employ. I think we will try to integrate various things that we have done so far. The win after multiple straight losses gave us the sense of unity, and a good atmosphere surrounding the team. I think the players who come off the bench will be the key, so we need everyone’s contribution. Every player who gets to play will try to give out a little more than they can normally do. Every player needs to be ready to play regardless of who gets to start and who substitutes.

FP #18 OHSHIMA Ryota (Kawasaki Frontale)
The atmosphere will be more and more tense from this point on. It’s cold (in Kazan), but the facility and the playing environment is wonderful. The injury is not a big problem. I have had some injuries when it was cold, so I will be careful. VAR is not something we should pay too much attention of. It’s important that we don’t make our own judgment to stop our plays in off-sides and PKs situations.