Qualifying to the knockout phase as runners-up in the group stage, the U-20 Japan Futsal National Team will face Iraq in the quarter-finals on Monday 22. The Iraqi squad are the one of the favourites of the tournament after beating hosts Thailand to top Group A.

The day before the quarter-final on May 21, the team held an official training at the match venue Bangkok Futsal Arena for 45 minutes to make their final preparation for the coming game and checked on few standard offensive plays and their set pieces.

After dinner at their hotel, the Japanese squad held a meeting to double check on few salient points for the coming match. After sharing how they should begin their game, the right mentality required for tomorrow was discussed as well as the ultimate goal for competing in this tournament.

Capitalising on the experience going through the tough group stage, they will challenge the Iraqi squad and try to secure a win as a united team.

Players' Comments

FP #5 ISHIDA Kentaro (Tama University/Futsal Club)
Even if we keep winning until the final, we only have three more games with my current teammates. To win all these matches and end the tournament on a high note, we need to compete with confidence as well as the responsibility of playing for the national team. We are going all out to put up some performance, but first we need to focus on the coming match and do our best to win it.

FP #8 ITO Keita (PESCADOLA MACHIDA ASPIRANTE)
Despite the limited time, we had an intense training envisioning the opponents tomorrow. Iraqis with larger strides are powerful as well, but we will take the initiative and win it with our own style of football.

GK #12 IWANAGA Taiki (SHRIKER OSAKA)
We had a short training which lasted only for 45 minutes. After going through our standard offensive plays and set pieces, we worked on few defensive tactics to cope with Iraq’s attacks. Nothing will change tomorrow as we will continue to perform as we normally do and try to win the match.

Schedule

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