On Monday 28 October, the U-18 Japan National Team started their team activity ahead of the AFC U-19 Championship 2020 qualifiers. The team will first work towards the qualification round in Vietnam to enter next year’s AFC U-19 Championship 2020, which will serve as the qualification round for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2021.

The U-18 Japan National Team was launched this February under the lead of coach KAGEYAMA Masanaga, who led the U-20 Japan National Team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland. The team has conducted a tour to Spain, UAE, and Portugal, before holding a domestic training camp in July. Following the SBS Cup International Youth Soccer Tournament in August, the team travelled to Spain once again in September to prepare themselves for the AFC U-19 Championship 2020 qualifiers.

In this qualification round, Japan is placed in Group J, along with U-18 Guam National Team, U-18 Mongolia National Team, and U-18 Vietnam National Team. The host nation, Vietnam is led by former coach of the Japan National Team, coach Philippe TROUSSIER and their youth category has been showing remarkable development over the recent years. With the enthusiastic support of the local supporters, Vietnam will certainly be an opponent to be reckoned with.

The team was gathered on Monday at a hotel in Togane, Chiba. At the team meeting, coach Kageyama prepped up the players by telling them, “Today the U-17 Japan National Team showcased a courageous performance to win over the U-17 Netherlands National Team at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019. Let’s try to do the same at our tournament. The U-17 Japan National Team’s coach Moriyama and I have been sharing a mutual understanding that our challenge at the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the FIFA U-17 World Cup will lead to future success at the higher categories. For us to enter the FIFA U-20 World Cup, we must first win our way through this AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers. It will not be an easy task, but we must keep ourselves grounded and prepare for each match in the best way possible.” The team then went through their team concept, where they will strive to become a “Strong team rather than a good team.”

The players were then seen on the pitch to conduct a training session. With many of the players just coming off a match with their club team, the team went through a light recovery menu with conditioning coach CHUMAN Kentaro.

The team will continue to train in Japan until Thursday 31, before traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Friday 1 November. The team is also scheduled to play in a training match against Ryutsu Keizai University on Thursday 31.

Players' Comments

GK #23 OBATA Yuma (Vegalta Sendai Youth)
I was able to make my return to the team since September’s Spain tour, and I am hoping to learn from my teammates and staffs to improve as a player during this tour. The AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification is our first goal, and I hope to play in behalf of all the players who couldn’t make it to this team. We will do our best to earn our ticket to the AFC U-19 Championship 2020.

DF #19 IDE Keita (Kashiwa Reysol U-18)
I suffered an injury during this August’s SBS Cup International Youth Soccer Tournament, and I spent a disappointing time on the side-line for a while. I feel like I was able to improve myself through the rehab period, so I hope to showcase an improved version of myself. This team consists not only players from the J. League, but also players from universities and high schools, so I hope to learn from these players on and off the pitch. We will work together as a team to win our way into the AFC U-19 Championship 2020.

MF #16 KAWAMOTO Riyo (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth)
I haven’t been able to get called up to this U-18 Japan National Team for a while, so I am very happy to be selected into this squad for the AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification. The FIFA U-20 World Cup is still way ahead of us, but we hope to make progress one step at a time. I hope to find out what I need to do to become a regular member of this team. Winning through the AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification is a must, so I will give my very best efforts to help the team achieve our goal.

Schedule

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

AFC U-19 Championship 2020 Qualification

Tournament Duration: Wed. 6 - Sun. 10 November 2019
Tournament Venue: Thong Nhat Stadium, Vietnam

Tournament Information