Academy Report

On the third day of the tour, after breakfast at the hotel, we moved to HKFC (Hong Kong Football Club) for training.

The players sweated through about an hour of training starting at 11 am.

During the latter half of the training, we held a training match against Australia's Newcastle Jets, who were training on an adjacent pitch, to get a feel for the Soccer Sevens (seven-a-side soccer) tournament which kicks off tomorrow.In the afternoon, after lunch, we held a soccer clinic for children from a local Japanese soccer school. Although it was a short one-hour session, we deepened our interaction with the children and had a meaningful time.

▼▼▼Click here for a video of the soccer clinic!▼▼▼

After that, we watched the Masters Tournament, which opened today, and got a feel for the tournament atmosphere.

After dinner at HKFC, we returned to the hotel, concluding the day's activities.

Tomorrow, the main tournament finally kicks off. Kashima Antlers Youth's first match will be against Wellington Phoenix from New Zealand at 3:57 PM local time. Wellington Phoenix will be our first opponent for the second consecutive year. Last year, we suffered a defeat, so we want to prepare well to get revenge.