Tue. 29 September

U-18 Japan National Team had two-a-day training in the morning and afternoon on the third day in Laos. To improve their condition, the players worked on four sets of sprint training including 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60m dashes before playing a 7v7 with a neutral player on a three-touch restriction rule to finish the morning session.

The afternoon session, even in a short period of time, consisted of a game in a half-sized pitch. The players trained to improve decision-making speed on both offence and defence and accuracy of moves while playing even in the heated climate.

After the afternoon session, the squad visited an international school, where Japanese students study together with children of other nationalities, to have an exchange party with Japanese children and their parents. They spent a fun time playing a relay race and a small-sided game.

At the end of the party, the children presented a national flag with supporting messages written on it and various people gave the team encouraging words with an eye on the qualifiers.

Wed. 30 September

U-18 Japan National Team had training at a stadium in Laos in the morning ahead of their opening match two days away. After working on a 4v2 passing drill, they went through their tactics in groups divided into the offence and defence sides and training to improve accuracy of individual plays.

The intense training was held in a good mood as the players gradually got used to the heat and called out to each other. After the training session, they cooled down their body in a pool in their hotel and got relaxed physically and mentally.

U-18 Japan National Team will have the official practice at the stadium to tune up for their opening match on the following day.

Players' Comments

SASAKI Takumi (Vegalta Sendai Youth)
We are getting used to the climate in Laos. And as we are getting fit, we've been practising in a great atmosphere. After the afternoon training on 29th, we had an exchange opportunity with local Japanese elementary and junior high students through football. That was a very fun time. We will get well prepared for the opener and do our best to put up a good result.

IWASAKI Yuto (Kyoto Tachibana High School)
As we are getting used to the heat, the mood and quality of our training are really getting better. For the opening match, our condition is also getting better during the training with a certain intention. Tomorrow, the official practice is taking place at the match-site. We'll do everything we can and make a good preparation as getting ourselves into good mental and physical condition.

YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa (Oita Trinita U-18)
The practice on 30th was light, but we had good one as we focused on accuracy of our on-off switches in the hot climate. We will have the good official practice tomorrow and work hard to give it our all for the opening match against Laos.

Schedule

 Note: The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.