Monday 19 May, just like Saturday 17, had two two-hour sessions in the morning and afternoon. While field players worked on “finishing attacks” in the morning and on “possessing the ball” in the afternoon, goal keepers’ assignments were “throwing / distributions” in the morning and “being part of attacks” in the afternoon. The camp is heading into the second half and players are starting to show small signs of fatigue, but as Coach Obe instructed, they “hang on”, kept talking to each other and stay focused on the workout. They are still young and willing to listen with open minds. Every play shows their improvements as they take on each drill even in this short period.

In the evening, the Japan Women’s National U-17 Team players, Matsubara Shiho, Nishida Meika (both from Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies) and Asano Natsumi (JFA Academy Fukushima) made an appearance with their two medals around their necks,, the World Cup gold and the Fair Play Award. The three players answered questions and talked about the U-17 World Cup, their junior high school experience, and future goals and dreams. Although their biggest goal is to play on Nadeshiko Japan, but it was remarkable that all of them said for now they work hard with their own clubs to get selected to the U-20 national team and keep working on details to achieve small goals first.
The elite program players were thrilled to listen to the players they admire with their eyes full of excitement, and there were too many questions from them for the three players to finish in the scheduled timetable. At last to conclude the day, every player wrote down her own dream and message to herself in ten years to once again remind herself of the goals she works hard for.

Comments

OKINO Ruseri (Club Fields Rinda)
When I listened to the stories of the Japan Women’s National U-17 Team players, the first thing I though was those high-level players were very positive-minded. They never get affected by pressure from others, and they even said they use pressure as their driving force. I thought that was great. I will play on Nadeshiko Japan for sure, so when I do that, I will remember those stories. I will play with that on my mind.

GOTO Wakaba (NTV Menina)
Listening to the stories today made me want to get selected to “Nadeshiko Japan” even more than before. The reason is I thought it was cool for the Japan Women’s National U-17 Team players to “get to know all the teammates” and “become better friends with them” after spending thirty days in Costa Rica. I also want to play in the “World Cup” and win the “gold medal” so much.

TAKEDA Haruka (FC Miyagi)
What I remember most after listening to Matsubara Shiho, Asano Natsumi and Nishida Meika is I should take advantage of my strength. If I don’t do it, it means nothing. My strengths are intercepting passes and defending 1-on-1. So I want to keep taking advantage of them.