Tue. 22 April

On 22 April, U-16 Japan National Team arrived at Gradisca d’Isonzo, Italy safely and started their training to get ready for The 12th Delle Nazioni Tournament which will take place from 24 April. After the team’s arrival at their hotel in the evening, they had a meeting lead by the Head Coach Mr. UCHIYAMA about the team’s concept and then started light exercises such as running and stretching exercises which relieves tiredness from the long journey.

Wed. 23 April

On their second day, they had training sessions in the afternoon.
They had several technical sessions for offense such as passing and ball control, 3 vs. 2, 9vs. 9, and shooting exercises to improve positioning and timing to receive the ball, and quick and accurate passing skills.

The first match is on 25 April, and Japan will play against Saudi Arabia National Team. They will then have 2 matches, the first against England on 26th and the second against Italy on 27th. To get a good mood for the team, each player tries to be well prepared for the coming matches, concentrating on every training session.

Players' Comments

ITO Hiroki (Jubilo Iwata U-18)
I have been bit tired partially because of the long journey from Japan, but in the training I just tried to concentrate, thinking about what I was doing. For offense, I got to understand that I have to improve the quality of individual skills. After the series of sessions so far, I thought having a squad understanding to make good positioning such as distance between the ball and the other players, or even the distance amongst the players who don’t have the ball, is very important. The first match starts from 25thand we want to get ready very well for that, trying to have a good understanding with each other through the sessions tomorrow.

SUGIURA Fumiya (Nagoya Grampus U18)
This is our second day and I have got to be more familiar with the environment here. In the training, I want to keep myself very positive taking good actions along with what Mr. UCHIYAMA wants us to do. We will have the first match on the 25th, so now I just want to concentrate on good preparation for that to make the right decisions and make good plays in the upcoming matches.

HASHIMOTO Jin (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18)
At the beginning of the training sessions today, I couldn’t concentrate well but gradually I could, thinking about the matches we will have. In this tournament, we have good chances to play against the world top-class teams. To maximise this precious experiences, I just want to prepare myself well firstly for the match against Saudi Arabia.

NAKANO Yuta (Shimizu S-Pulse Junior Youth)
The series of practical training started today. What I try throughout this training is to keep thinking, paying attention to how this training can contribute to the real matches. I know that there are many things that I have to improve on, so I will keep working to make them better. For the match on 25th, I want to prepare well, having good communication with my teammates.

Schedule

*Local time

The 12th Delle Nazioni Tournament

Future Schedule