The ongoing training camp in Kyoto for U-22 Japan National Team short-listed squad had its second day.

With ten players from J2 clubs newly joining the camp and midfielder HARAKAWA Riki of Kyoto Sanga F.C. being out of the practice due to his unfavourable physical condition, the total of 24 young samurais took on another day of training. 

After passing, ball controlling and possession drills, they worked on intense 1-on-1 and 3-on-3 in front of goal before the 90-minute session finished with a 6-on-6.

While their coach TEGURAMORI Makoto enthusiastically occasionally shouted out encouraging words, the players displayed a great deal of intensity on the ball. Their fighting spirits were clearly apparent on the pitch with an eye to the upcoming survival race in the final qualifiers in January next year.

After dinner, the squad had a team meeting for the first team in this camp. Coach Teguramori shared his vision towards achieving the team’s goal and the mission and sense of responsibility required for all national team players, which did nothing but braced the players up. 

J2 players, who only had recovery workout on this day, are expected to join the full team practice on Tuesday 25 August, and the competitions for playing time will certainly be fiercer.

Players' Comments

DF   UEDA Naomichi (Kashima Antlers)
In today’s practice, new guys on the squad didn’t hesitate to play hard, so I think it’s good for the team to have intensified competition in that kind of atmosphere. We don’t have much time left before the final qualifiers, and I personally feel the sense of urgency. How much we can get better at our own club will be the key. So I think I need to put up good results first with my club. 

Whether we can stay focused during such a short camp is also important. We have two more days, and especially in the match against Kyoto, we want to prioritise the end result of the match. 

FW   SUGIMOTO Ryuji (Tokyo Verdy)
It’s a great deal of responsibility to have our national flag on our kit, so I was happy to be called up this time. In this camp, I want to keep showing my strength of intense momentum toward goals. 

In today’s practice and meeting, there were so many elements that inspired me, and it’s very interesting to play with guys from many different clubs. I now feel stronger than before that I want to stay on this team. I will always pay attention to what coach Teguramori expects from us, and even after I come back to my club, I will keep chasing for good results. 

MF   KAWABE Hayao (Jubilo Iwata)
Being invited made me very happy, so I want to take this camp very seriously and I also want to keep working hard with my club in order to keep getting invited. My strengths are passes that make strikers better and plays to utilise second balls, and I want to show those plays often. 

It’s a short camp, but we have to understand our team’s strategies and teammates’ characteristics, and at the same time, we need to showcase our individual good traits. There are a lot of thigs to be done, but I won’t worry too much. I will simply try to play with everything I have and keep working hard for the rest of the two days.

MF   UCHIDA Kohei (Mito Hollyhock)
Simply I was happy to be called up. In this camp I want to show my characteristics as a defensive midfielder, which are being strong in physical contacts, being able to put down the opponents attacking chances, and executing game plans. This team have a different atmosphere than my club’s. 

In this atmosphere, everyone is trying to show his own skills, so it’s both fun and challenging to compete with those guys by showing my own. But I won’t think too much about things like “I will have to do this and I will have to do that.” I will just try to show the plays that I normally show. 

DF   IWANAMI Takuya (Vissel Kobe)
I came to this camp with a mind-set that another phase of competition starts here. Since some key players are not here such as ENDO Wataru (Shonan Bellmare) and OSHIMA Ryota (Kawasaki Frontale), I will work hard to take that role of being one of the key players here. The practice went on in a very good atmosphere, and we are communicating with each other well I think. The next matches won’t be home-and-away matches like the ones until the last time. 

Instead all teams get together in one country. So there are some tough elements there. The team chemistry is very important. We want to go into the tournament in good shape after everyone improves during the time left for us until the tournament. 

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

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