One day after the new head coach Vahid Halilhodzic’s first win on the job, SAMURAI BLUE, Japan National Team had a training session in Oita. 

Under a beautiful weather with spring sunlight, forward Yamaguchi Hotaru (Cerezo Osaka) and the other last night’s starters went through light recovery drills including jogging and stretching in a relaxing atmosphere with about 800 fans watching.
Other players including forward Okazaki Shinji (1.FSV Mainz 05/Germany) who scored the first goal for the new boss off the bench, and midfielder Kagawa Shinji (Borussia Dortmund/Germany) trained for about 90 minutes in the drills such as a quickness-aimed passing drill where five players together keep passing two balls and 8v8 small-sided match.

Forward Inui Takashi (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany) who had been away from training due to illness returned to the team on this day and worked out enthusiastically.

Inui said of his motivation “I want to make sure that I play my role both offensively and defensively.”

After the practice, an autograph session was held for about 200 children, primary school students and younger, at the facility. Forward Muto Yoshinori (FC Tokyo) and others were surrounded with young fans. Coach Halilhodzic also walked to the fans and signed his autograph when he was talked to.

Lastly defender Sakai Hiroki (Hannover 96/Germany) who injured his right leg during the match against Tunisia was not in the practice. He had taken an examination at a hospital in Oita and his injury was diagnosed as muscle contusion.
The team left Oita in the afternoon for Tokyo, getting ready for the Uzbekistan match on Tuesday 31 March at Tokyo Stadium.

Comments

MF KAGAWA Shinji (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)
(On the previous day match) I thought we would be better if everyone spoke up about how he wanted to play. I think if our offence has more free-flowing position changes, more power and accuracy and more dynamism, we can be more dynamic than we have ever been. I was able to play how I wanted in terms of how I kept distance around me for example, but it was not a big deal considering our opponents slowed down in the second half and there were already space there. Uzbekistan will be in Japan after playing a match in Korea Republic the day before and they will have no jet lag, so it’s up to how we can play against such tough opponents. We will make sure we will be well prepared.

DF FUJIHARU Hiroki (Gamba Osaka)
Before the match Honda told me it was quite natural to be nervous before the first national team match in our career and it would be quite natural if we couldn’t play well. So I was able to come out feeling good, I was able to shoot some and I think it was better than my first J.League match. I wanted to show more of my strong point, which is my offensive plays, but I found out once I run up front, I will be able to get a good pass at a good timing. I could have fun out there. (On kicking free kicks and corner kicks) I was nervous at first and after a while Kiyotake started kicking them for me, but I want to keep doing it every time by myself next time.

MF SHIBASAKI Gaku (Kashima Antlers)
(After the team re-started with new coaching staff,) We don’t have much time to practice (together), so it will take time (for the team to be completed). It’s just doing step by step, but I think it’s important for everybody to be on the same page. Attacking and feeding the space behind defenders is nothing new and nothing special in football, but now we have more players up front who are capable of playing that way, so I will try to feed them.

DF YOSHIDA Maya (Southampton FC/England)
Our head coach requires us to be disciplined, but at the same time he wants us to think and make decisions by ourselves. Generally Japanese players are not good at doing both, following a head coach’s instruction and solving problems on the pitch by ourselves. So it’s good to be expected that way. In defence, there are a lot of things to make sure, so I talk with him a lot. We didn’t have much time before the yesterday’s match, and we won’t have before the next match, either. Once we start the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, every match will be a must-win. We shouldn’t leave problems unsolved. We should get prepared for the qualifiers with good amount of communication.

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Schedule

JAL CHALLENGE CUP 2015

Tue. 31 March 2015
SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team)  v  Uzbekistan National Team
Tokyo Stadium, Kickoff 19:25/Open 16:25
TV Coverage: National live broadcasting on NTV Group

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