U-17 Japan Women's National Team arrived in Shandong, China on Monday 11 July at 12:35 p.m. local time to participate in the CFA International Women’s Youth Football Tournament 2016 Weifang, hosted by the Chinese Football Association.

As New Zealand and Canada, who take part in the tournament, will also play the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup to be held in late September, it will be an important opportunity for Japan to improve the team.

After arriving in China, the team went through an official training session at Weifang Olympic Sports Center Stadium, where the actual matches are to be held, to fine-tune on the pitch in preparation for their next day's match.

In the press conference by the coaches from the four participating teams, Japan coach KUSUNOSE Naoki said, "thank you for inviting us to the great tournament. We appreciate that we get to play football and then we will go out to aim at the title."

Japan's first match is to be held on Tuesday 12 at 4:00 p.m. against Canada National Women's U-17 Team.

Players' Comments

TAKARADA Saori (CEREZO OSAKA SAKAI Ladies)
We finished training of the day by stretching our tired body because of a long trip and working on passing practice. The tournament finally begins tomorrow. I will try to get things done for my team and for myself. We will build up quality of each play as a team and take on challenges without fear of making mistakes. We want to get well-prepared for the U-17 Women's World Cup.

MATSUMOTO Manaka (Jumonji Senior High School)
I've got lots of unfamiliar things in this first overseas trip of mine as a Japanese international. But I want to communicate with my teammates and play with my strength of pacing. In this tournament, I will try to improve quality on both offence and defence and be focused to make the three matches productive as a team and as an individual.

Schedule

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