Monday 7th April

U-19 Japan National Team began its training camp in Yangon, Myanmar, to get prepared for the AFC U-19 Championship 2014 to be held in October in that country. This trip is very important not just for developing as the team but also for getting used to the city and venues where the championship will take place.

The first practice finished only with running and stretching without using balls to take care of the bodies that endured an eight-hour flight from Japan.

Tuesday 8th April

In the morning, field players were split into four groups and practiced passing in three on two situations. The head coach Suzuki explained the strategies the team employ for both offense and defence especially for players on the national team for the first time, and occasionally advised them to pay attention to opponents and make good judgments. 

Goalkeepers practiced saving after some passing drills. The goalkeeper coach Hamano gave detailed instructions on variety of things including how they should position themselves. 

After two o’clock, a press conference was held with coaches and captains from U-19 Myanmar National Team, KBZ FC and U-19 Japan National Team all in attendance. Around twenty media members asked numerous questions as friendly matches are scheduled to be televised live in Myanmar.

The afternoon training session was held at the Youth Training Centre, where the championship matches will be played. It provided the team with a good opportunity to be prepared for the championship. Starting with passing drills to get used to the pitch condition, players were separated into offensive and defensive positions and worked on some more drills. The session finished with shooting drills around the penalty area.

After the practice, the team celebrated birthdays of players and staff who were born in the month of April. (Uchida, Takagiwa, Misao, Yamaguchi, and Fukai, the team doctor). A happy birthday song was sung, and the birthday players received a prankish present of ice shower all over their bodies. 

Birthday players didn’t finish their happy day just yet. At dinner table, Misao and Takagiwa returned “Thank you” quick party jokes and made their teammates laugh, as Yoshimaru also introduced his favourite funny story and added even more laughter. The day finished in a perfectly amusing mood.

The next day is scheduled to have a friendly match against local KBZ FC. Although this is a short trip, it will surely be a fruitful one with many opportunities to build on experiences to the team including checking out the championship venues and playing two friendly matches.