U-23 Japan National Team went into action for the first time since they won the AFC U-23 Championship in January this year.

At 9:00 on 21 March, 19 young samurais assembled at Narita airport, while the rest of three will join the team later. Once all the players got together in a waiting room, coach TEGURAMORI Makoto gave an enthusiastic message to them.

"Before winning in Asia, we were with the word 'battle to the world stage.' But from now on, it's going to be a preparation to 'battle on the world stage,'" said Japan boss.

The new battle has already started for the festival of sports in August. With the sobering word in mind, the squad left for the overseas camp. Then soon after that, a big challenge loomed ahead of the team on the challenging road to the Olympics. Their flight was cancelled from the stopover in Frankfurt to the final destination Lisbon. The team even had difficulty finding the unexpected accommodation on the day, and it was midnight when the players finally checked in at a hotel.

Team staff worked hard to find an alternate flight from the early morning following day, but the situation did not progress, which resulted in a stressful time for the players with the future schedule unclear. At last, the team secured their itinerary – flying to Lisbon through Berlin, Germany on the morning of 23rd. 56 hours after their Narita meeting, they finally arrived in Portugal.

Having trained in Lisbon ahead of their teammates, KUBO Yuya, VAN WERMESKERKEN Sai and MINAMINO Takumi also got together with the team. The 22-men squad finally started training in the afternoon. Starting with aerobic running, the squad worked on passing and controlling drills in groups of four and played a 9-on-9 with a neutral player game-style training using four mini goals before finishing the  first day with another running drill. Because of the long trip, their body got stiff and condition was somewhat poor. Even so, with the pleasure of kicking the ball with their peers after a while, they worked up a good sweat for about 90 minutes in a great atmosphere.

The Japan squad will have the official training session on 24th at the match-day stadium Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior.

Coach and Players' Comments

TEGURAMORI Makoto, Coach
The team had had a lot of accidents before, but this one was the biggest. I think it shows the way to the Olympics is also tough. I felt like going back to Japan on our way, but I regained my positive mindset once arriving in Portugal and felt joy of playing football. I want to think positively about it.

During this camp, I will focus on individuals and encourage the players to have high motivation for the Olympics. Not being satisfied with the fact we can play in Rio as the Asian champions, I want to tell them the one we are aiming is tougher and bigger. I will let them know my thoughts as a coach and the way of fighting on the world stage and, conversely, I want to know each player's way of thinking as well. I will put focus on that during this camp.

MF #3  ENDO Wataru (Urawa Reds)
I've never been stuck for such a long time, but there's no use in complaining about it. Mexico don't have so much height but show individual abilities in collective moves. It's no doubt they've got quality. I want to play with joy we got together after so long. I've got tired a bit, but we still have time to prepare tomorrow. We can't make excuses  for this situation. When it comes to a match, we've got to show the way we are, and even when things don't work well, we will be aware of what we need to do at least like intensity on the ball and quick shifting between offence and defence and then try to win the match at the end.

MF #18  MINAMINO Takumi (Salzburg)
With two days away from the Mexico match, there is a tough part on the conditioning side, but I will see it as a good experience and battle out with my teammates. To get a place in the team for the Olympic finals, competition has already started. I will get results to prevail in it. There is a conditioning problem, but we can play against a great team. We will do what we can do and make it a good game.

MF #17  SEKINE Takahiro (Urawa Reds)
It was a really long trip and we can rarely have this kind of experience. We will do what we can do for the match. I was happy the team got a spot for the Olympics and I thought I got a chance again. To capitalise on the chance, I will show my strength of going up for goal. As an individual, I'm expected to get tangible results. Recording things like goals and assists is going to be important. Of course, I will try to show what I've got, but we will get results as a team and finish the trip in style.

Schedule

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

International Friendly Match

U-23 Japan National Team vs U-23 Mexico National Team
2016-3-25 (Fri.) - 15:36（24:36 Japan Time）
Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior (Lisbon, Portugal)
Live broadcasting by TV TOKYO
More information