U-15 Japan National Team departed for Thailand on 20 July as their second trip overseas.

U-15 Japan National Team, who are dubbed “00 JAPAN,” set their goals to beat Hong Kong and Mongolia in the qualifying of the AFC U-16 Championship 2016 Qualifiers in September in Mongolia and put up good results in the AFC Championship next year in India to earn a spot in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017. The trip serves as a simulation for next year's tourney. 

“U-16 Japan National Team, who are our senior team, left a great outcome against powerhouse opponents in June's U-16 International Dream Cup 2015 in Osaka. We are going to compete in it next year, but unless we are going to polish our individual skills and raise our collectiveness, we are not going to be on par with them. We have a chance to play against four great opponents outside of the country on this trip, so let's make each and every single day as valuable as we can,” Japan coach MORIYAMA Yoshiro told his players in their first meeting.

The team arrived in Thailand two hours late due to a flight delay and it gave the players some extra fatigue. But they attempted to voluntarily take communication inside the team from their afternoon training on the first day, and it was impressive that those who had been on the team tried to support the team debutants.

In the morning training of the second day on 21 July, they spent the majority of the time for transition between offence and defence with 3-on-2s and 1-on-1s. During the 1-on-1 drills, the players competed seriously and with encouraging words from others, the entire session became so cheerful. 

In the goalkeepers' training, they would repeatedly blocked shots from close range and they learned from goalkeepers coach SATO Yohei that protecting the goalmouth was the most important thing rather than their own techniques. 

In 4-on-4 and 6-on-6 practice with the goalkeepers in the half court, the staff members, including coach Moriyama, had heated coaching. They had the players repeatedly work on things they couldn't  do over and over while the staff cast harsh encouragements when the players showed passive players before the goal. 

In the afternoon practice, they played a 11-on-11 intra-squad game, with the following day's contest in mind. They repeatedly stopped their corner kick and free kick plays to check their positioning before they finally wrapped up the day. 

In a meeting that they held at night, while Moriyama told his players how they should get ready for the next day's game, they studied good plays that the U-18 squad had in the Panda Cup.

The team would play an friendly match against the U-16 Thailand National team on the following day.

*”00JAPAN” is the nickname of the U-15 Japan National Team that consists of members who were born in 2000.

Players' Comments 

DF   INOUE Itsuki (Ventforet Kofu U-15)
I would like to see how much my 1-on-1 skills against tough foreign opponents that I had in our previous trip and learn how my defensive teammates will deal with them. I couldn't rob the ball from players who were stronger physically than I was in today's training, so I would like to work on it to raise my anticipation ability and get the ball with better positioning as much as possible from tomorrow. 

For the game, I would like to aggressively challenge from early on, run more than the opponents, and play not forgetting fighting spirits.

DF   OKAMOTO Shosei (Albirex Niigata U-15)
When I joined our previous trip to Indonesia, I was often beaten in 1-on-1 situations physically, so I've worked on core training this time. I would like to adjust to the environments of Southeast Asia, put up good plays no matter what kind of ground situation we have, and win competitions before the goal in order to make the trip a better one this time.

DF   OOISHI Naoya (Kashiwada SC)
I'm excited to have been chosen as a candidate for the Japan National Team for the first time. In our training of yesterday and today, I felt that I had some issues in terms of preparing for receiving passes and controlling the defensive line. I would like to get the grasp of how much I can play against the strong opponents during this trip. Also, I would like to actively take communication with my teammates to inspire the team.

DF   KIKUCHI Kenta (JFA Academy Fukushima U-15)
I've been selected on the national team for the first time and have a little jitters, but the team's mood is very good and I've gradually gotten used to it. My objective for this trip is to keep having spirits, which are to beat others in 1-on-1s and keep challenging even after I make mistakes. I would like to exhibit everything I have. 

I struggled to adjust myself with the pitch condition and had some issues regarding my positioning and collective plays in today's training, so I would like to improve them.

Schedule

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