On Thursday 30 May, Japan Football Association (JFA) held a press conference at JFA House, where YAMAMOTO Masakuni, JFA National Team Director, and OIWA Go, head coach of U-23 Japan National Team, announced the 25 players who will take part in the U-23 Japan National Team’s tour to the USA in June.

In addition to FUJITA Joel Chima (Sint-Truidense VV) and HOSOYA Mao (Kashiwa Reysol), who played active roles in the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ held from mid-April to early May, a number of players playing abroad have returned to the squad, including a duo who play for Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam, SAITO Koki and MITO Shunsuke. SUZUKI Zion (Sint-Truidense VV), who has been participating in the activities of SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) since last October, was also called up for the U-23 side for the first time in a long while. SANO Kodai (NEC Nijmegen), who played in the Eredivisie, the topflight of Dutch professional football, this season, also joins the U-23 Japan National Team for the first time, a player in which Oiwa has high expectations saying, “I want to understand his characteristics and create a situation where he can play an active role in the game.”

With this tour of the USA being the team's final activity before the Paris Olympics, coach Oiwa said, “We want to prepare for the Paris Olympics with the confidence we have gained from the Asia Cup,” and expressed his enthusiasm for the two matches against the USA, saying, “We want to use this opportunity to further strengthen the team.”

The U-23 Japan National Team will begin their campaign with a training camp in the USA on Sunday 2 June, before playing two friendly matches against the U-23 USA National Team on Friday 7 and Tuesday 11 June.

Comments

YAMAMOTO Masakuni, JFA National Team Director
The team successfully achieved their goals of qualifying for the Paris Olympics and becoming Asian champions at the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ in April and May, which led to these international friendlies in June. I am delighted with the team’s accomplishment and thankful to everyone involved for their support. I feel it is important for the players to have as many great experiences as possible during their development and to use the games as stepping stones towards our ultimate goal, which is for SAMURAI BLUE to win the World Cup. I look forward to seeing the growth of both the team and the individuals.

OIWA Go, Head Coach of U-23 Japan National Team
We won the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ and qualified for the Paris Olympics. We owe this to the clubs who work with us to provide the players, and we would like to express our sincere gratitude to them. We want to prepare for the Paris Olympics with the confidence we have gained from the Asia Cup. (On this tour of the USA) we hope to use the International Match Week period in June to further strengthen the team.

JFA OFFICIAL
TOP PARTNER

JFA OFFICIAL
SUPPLIER

JFA MAJOR PARTNER

JFA NATIONAL TEAM PARTNER