The U-19 Japan National Team, who won the title of the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 in October and qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea in May next year, began their training camp in Argentina to face new challenges.

Prior to the departure to Argentina, the U-19 team gathered and practiced in Chiba on 30 November. Members included those who were not selected for the AFC Championship squad and the players who were called up for the first time. They had a nine-a-side game-format training with two neutral players, whereby the number of ball touches was restricted. All the players proactively communicated during the practice session.

On the night of the same day, the team departed Japan and arrived in Argentina after a 35-hour travel on the following day (1 December) around 21:00.

On 2 December, the players took a walk around their accommodation in the morning. In the afternoon, Yamaguchi joined the team from France and they had a training session for 70 minutes. To recover from the tiredness of the long journey, they went through running and stretching exercises. Then, they had a game-format practice using the entire pitch to get the feeling of the local ball.

The U-19 Japan National Team will have a training match against a local club team, Club Atletico Lanus, on 3 December. They are also scheduled to have a pair of international friendlies against the U-19 Argentina National Team on the 5th and the 7tth. Argentina are considered to be one of the strongest teams of this age category in the world.

Players' Comments

GK #23 WAKAHARA Tomoya (Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18)
It is much hotter here in Argentina. I haven’t fully recovered yet from the long journey nor adjusted to the jet lag. However, I worked up a good sweat in training. We communicate well off the pitch including meal time and I think we have a good atmosphere. Since I have played with almost all of the squad members before, I know most of their individual characteristics. I hope this will be an advantage for me when I play on the pitch. To make the most of our time in training and up-coming matches, I want to prepare myself well. I also want to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses and become a better football player.

MF #17 ICHIMARU Mizuki (Gamba Osaka)
We have just finished the first training day in Argentina. While we are still tired from the long journey, I performed well keeping a high level of concentration. I want to prepare myself well for the training match tomorrow. We already qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup next year. To make the most out of our first camp, we need to continue working on the things that we built during the past training and matches. I will give my best and become a better footballer.

FW #13 WADA Masashi (Yokohama F・Marinos)
It’s been a while since my last call-up, and I am very happy to join the national team again. Since I wasn’t given many chances to play for the club team, this is a great opportunity to improve myself. I wasn’t also a member of the AFC U-19 Championship, so I will do my best to fit in the team. I will work hard and achieve concrete results.

Schedule

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