With less than two months to go before the first match against Hong Kong in the 2014 AFC U-16 Championship, the U-16 Japan National Team held a training session again at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok city.
This stadium, which can accommodates 60000 people, was built in 1998 - coincidently the same year in which the players of ‘98JAPAN(*)’ were born. This is one of the possible stadiums for the matches in the 2014 AFC U-16 Championship in September. The qualifying round for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile might be held in this very stadium, which was also constructed in 1998.

Some core training and running like yesterday soon had the players sweating.
As soon as the blazing sun went behind the clouds, we heard a tapping sound against the roof of the stadium. And then there was sudden torrential rain on top of the high-temperature and humidity.

One of the purposes of this trip is to get used to the facilities, such as hotels and stadiums, as well as the country itself for the championship in September. It is also aimed at building a better team through the experiences of the trip.
If each player and staff can be prepared in September for the conditions in this country, including the unpredictable weather, the awfully slow traffic, the atmosphere of the stadium, the turf and the changing room, that would be a great advantage for them.

The training match against U-18 Muang Tong United will kickoff at 16:00 tomorrow.

*Japan Under-16 National Squad: Team that shoots for the FIFA Under-17 Word Cup 2015

Comments

YOSHITAKE Hirofumi, Head Coach
I planned one slightly longer practice session instead of two sessions a day, because it took a while to travel between the hotel and the stadium due to the slow traffic. The players got used to this heat and the atmosphere of the training sessions in two days, and started to understand the direction of our practices. Although their performance has been improving, there are still many basic issues to be fixed. In the practice match tomorrow, I want them to try out what they have to do as a team.

NISHIMOTO Takanobu（Kashima Antlers Youth）
I tried to pass precisely in today’s practice session, checking the position and the condition of the receiver. I think it’s vital to get to grips with high-speed, quality and finishing in order to play against strong teams in the world. I play consciously for shots. Recently I started to think about ‘where to aim in the net’ before I got the ball, and then score, just ‘keeping my eyes on the ball’.
I’d like to focus on my position so that I can pass with just one touch to impact the game. To do so, it’s very important to ‘see the opponents’ and ‘communicate with my team’.
I will communicate with the other players actively during this trip to make the team better.

DOAN Ritsu（Gamba Osaka Youth）
It’s been two days since the training in Thailand started, and I got used to this weather a bit. Gradually the players became more vocal, which is better for the team. Personally I’ve got a task, ‘watch the opponents’, which I’ll continue to focus on in the training sessions.
As there’ll be the first match in this trip tomorrow, I’d like to be well prepared to win as a united team.

MORISHITA Reiya（Cerezo Osaka U-18）
Although this is my first activity as a player for the national team, I’m getting used to the atmosphere. Personally I’d like to understand our team tactics, communicate with the other players and play my style much more. I’ll try my best at tomorrow’s match, using what I’ve learned in these two days, to get a good result.

Schedule

Future Schedule