Breakfast was buffet style. Since we had only light meals the previous night, everyone ate a substantial breakfast.
During the meeting, each person shared their reflections on the Kanto League and Intercity Cup, and their aspirations for this expedition based on those reflections, with a time limit of 3 minutes per person in front of everyone.
It was a valuable time for the team, as everyone was able to express thoughts and feelings that they don't usually get to share.
From 12:00 PM, we moved to an artificial turf ground about 15 minutes away by bus. We started with passing and control drills, and finished with a 9-on-9 practice match. Due to a change in tomorrow's schedule, the training intensity was slightly higher than planned.
Today, the weather was unfortunately windy, cloudy, and then rainy.
Some players appeared heavy-legged due to fatigue from yesterday's travel, but the temperature was mild, and we completed the training in good conditions.
At the training venue, PSV was practicing before Kashima Antlers' scheduled time. It seemed that they had many high-level players, including goalkeepers who were tall and technically skilled with their feet.
After practice, we immediately took the bus and had lunch.
From 3:30 PM, we had a recreation session led by Coach Iitaka to improve team communication. Everyone enjoyed it with relaxed expressions, playing games like Human Knot.
After that, we had dinner at 7:00 PM, followed by a meeting at 8:30 PM, and then went to bed.
Today, from 3:00 PM, Section Chief Yamasaki and Coach Amano attended the representative meeting where the draw was held.
Thanks to Coach Amano's luck in the draw, Kashima Antlers will face Borussia Dortmund from Germany in the qualifying round, a matchup the players had hoped for.
August 13 (Tuesday) 10:30 AM K.O. vs Borussia Dortmund
August 14 (Wednesday) 10:30 AM K.O. vs Cardiff City FC
August 15 (Thursday) 10:30 AM K.O. vs Busan IPark
August 16 (Friday) - 18 (Sunday) Final Tournament
The preliminary league schedule is as above. Originally, August 14 was planned as a rest day, but due to delays in the arrival of two teams caused by a typhoon, tomorrow will be the rest day instead. Therefore, tomorrow we will have practice at 10:30 AM and sightseeing from around 3:00 PM.