The U-23 Chinese Taipei National Team held their training camp at Niigata Seiro Sports Centre and Albillage for 10 days from Thursday 19 to Sunday 29 July. The camp was held to strengthen the team ahead of the 18th Asian Games, which will take place at Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, from Friday 10 August to Saturday 1 September.

The team utilised the indoor training field at the Albillage to conduct weight-trainings and functional-trainings, while their ball-trainings were held at the Niigata Seiro Sports Center, where their British coaching staffs managed their work load according to their schedule to condition the team.

The results of the two training-matches conducted during their stay are as follow:

Recovery-trainings were conducted at the beach and the swimming pool facilities near the hotel. The players were seen spending their off days visiting the shopping mall to refresh themselves.

At the Asian Games where the U-21 Japan National Team will also participate, the U-23 Chinese Taipei National Team is in Group A along with Indonesia, Hong Kong, Laos, and Palestine. The team will face Palestine in their first match on Friday 10 August.

U-23 Chinese Taipei National Team Coach and Players’ Comments

Peng Wu-Sung, Coach
It is the first time in 60 years that the Chinese Taipei National Team will participate in the Asian Games. Ever since our team’s leader, Gary, has been appointed as the Technical Director of the CTFA (Chinese Taipei Football Association), we have been putting in lots of efforts to youth development. The fact that we are participating in the Asian Games this year shows how much we have accomplished so far. Our team was originally scheduled to hold the training camp elsewhere, but considering the level of football played in Japan, as well as the quality of the football environment in Japan are top-class in Asia, we changed our destination to Japan at the last minute. Japan and Taiwan have many similarities in life style, so the players were able to spend their time off the pitch without any problems. The quality of the training environment here is top-notch and we were able to conduct our trainings without seeing any major injuries, so we are very satisfied with this camp. We are very thankful towards the people of Japan. At the Asian Games, we hope to showcase just how much we have improved from this training camp.

Chen Ting-Yang
I have visited Japan many times. Japan is a beautiful country and I believe that their people’s dedicated nature has driven the development of Japanese football. That is something Taiwan should learn from. Through this training camp, not only were we able to improve our skills, but we were able to conduct a cultural exchange with the people of Japan. We hope to continue these types of activities to bridge the relationship between Japan and Taiwan. We would like to thank everyone involved in our training camp including the teams we faced in our training matches. This camp gave us the opportunity to feel and learn the gap between Japan and us. We are hoping to come back to Japan with an improved version of our team next time.

Wu Yen-Shu
The system and environment surrounding football is very well organised in Japan. Not only the players, but their staffs are very high level, and we have learnt a lot from their collective approach to earn victory. Throughout this camp everything was promptly scheduled, as the time and location for our training sessions and meals were arranged perfectly. The meals served at the restaurants had plenty of quantity as well as variations, and it was an ideal surrounding for an athlete. We were provided with a one-person room, so our privacy was well kept. The Japanese players showcased great discipline in both offence and defence. The players also displayed great understandings of their team tactics, as they listened carefully to what their coach had to say. They have also shown great sportsmanship by playing clean throughout the entire match, while giving their very best.

Accepting teams from the AFC Member Associations to hold training camps in Japan

Upon receiving requests to hold training camps in Japan, JFA will make all arrangements including training-matches in efforts to support the strengthening of the national teams of the Member Associations.
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