On Wednesday 22 August, the U-21 Japan National Team conducted a training session in the morning to prepare themselves for their round of 16 match against the U-23 Malaysia National team at the 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang, which will take place one Friday 24 August.

Given four days following their third group stage match against Vietnam, the team conducted a light session on the 20th to recover their conditions ahead of their next match against Malaysia. The following day on the 21st featured a session where the team played 9 vs 9 with a free player. The team was then separated by their positions where the defence line walked through their line-control, while the offence went over their combination plays and timing to attack. The session that took place on the 22nd saw the team conducting a 5 vs 5 possession drill, followed by a 10 vs 10 scrimmage utilising the full length of the pitch. Coach MORIYASU Hajime was heard giving out detailed instructions while the team worked on to deepen their combinations on the pitch.

After the training session, MATSUMOTO Taishi mentioned, “We were able to make the necessary adjustments in the areas where we had trouble with, so this should help us in our next match. SUGIOKA Daiki followed by stating, “We were given the opportunity to prepare and put ourselves on the same page in terms of line-control,” showing signs of confidence heading into the knockout stage.

At dinner time, the team celebrated Matsumoto’s 20th birthday, as WATANABE Kouta took the lead to sing the birthday song. Matsumoto, who is the only player that has played in all three matches thus far, shared his aspiration, “I would like to get myself involved in our plays as much as possible and anticipate to deliver a through ball when I have the chance.”

Players' Comments

GK #1 KOJIMA Ryosuke (Waseda University)
If we don’t try during the training sessions, we can’t heighten our quality of plays, so these sessions have been great for us. (After losing to Vietnam) We need to improve the team’s cohesiveness. Only one goalkeeper can play on the pitch, and it is important that we are all striving to earn that spot. That sense of competition will heighten the overall level of the team.

DF #5 SUGIOKA Daiki (Shonan Bellmare)
Malaysia has won against Korea Republic and they are a very strong team. We must prepare ourselves well and fight as a team to earn the victory. As part of the defence line, I will focus on our organisation and fill in the space as much as possible. The Asian Games is an important tournament ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. And for us to strive to do well in the future World Cups, we must be able to win through the Asian qualifiers, so this challenge is something we must overcome.

FW #9 HATATE Reo (Juntendo University)
I will continue to communicate with the other attacking players so that we can maintain a good distance between each other during our match. Personally, I am focused on delivering a pass that can create the most options for the receiving end. As much as I like to score goals, I also hope to record many assists and become a hub for the attacking players. If I am given the opportunity to play, I would like to display more of those aspects in our next match.

Schedule

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

The 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang

Tournament Dates: Sat. 18 August - Sun. 2 September 2018

【Men's】Round of 16
Fri. 24 August 21:30 [Japan Time] vs Malaysia

Tournament Information