U-18 Japan National Team, who had finished their first two games in the group league in the Valentin Granatkin International Football Tournament, had training on 5 and 6 January toward their third game against the U-18 Lithuania National Team, which will be played on the 7th.

Because the players showed fatigue from the consecutive games, they mainly focused on recovery menus like running and stretching on the first day.

On the second day, they began with a 4-on-2 passing training and then moved to a 7-on-7 game with a free man in a half court. After that, they were divided by positions. The offensive corps worked on shooting with crosses from the sides, while the defensive players practiced long kicks and heading. The goalkeepers practiced on properly positioning watching the ball, opponents and teammates, which was one of their issues that they came up with in their previous games.

5 January was YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa's birthday, so the entire team celebrated him with a birthday cake after their dinner. Players and staff of other countries that happened to be at the diner also applauded for him and he seemed to be very pleased.

Players' Comments

FW #9  YOSHIHIRA Tsubasa (Oita Trinita U-18)
We only practiced for an hour today, but we were able to work with good concentration. Also, I was celebrated for my birthday on the 5th, and I was extremely happy. And I was surprised that other teams gave me applauses for me, but I felt glad. We have a game against Lithuania tomorrow. We haven't come up with positive outcomes in our first and second games, so we want to regroup and absolutely try to win.

MF #15  NISHIMOTO Takanobu (Kashima Antlers Youth)
We've lost our first and second games, but we confirmed what we are supposed to do as a team through yesterday and today. For our third game, both as a team and an individual, we would like to reduce mistakes and play aggressively both ends of the ball. I would like to do the best I can for the Lithuania game of tomorrow and win all the games in the remainder of the schedule.

MF #7  MIYAZAKI Kiwara (Albirex Niigata U-18)
We've lost in both games and have some injured players, so it's a tough situation for us. Our next game against Lithuania will be a very important game and we will absolutely need the win. And because we will need to score a lot of goals, we would like to put up challenge as the whole team, creating scoring opportunities in front of their goal.

Schedule

*Local time

The 28th Valentin Granatkin International Football Tournament Group Rosters

Group A : Saint Petersburg, Belarus, Slovakia, Japan, Lithuania
Group B : Finland, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Moldova, Russia
Group C : Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Bulgaria