On Wednesday 16 December, JFA announced the 2021 yearly schedule for all categories of the Japan National Team. With the Tokyo Olympics scheduled in late July, the U-24 Japan National Team and the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team) are set to be involved in several training matches, including the send-off match scheduled in July. The SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) will also jump into action, as the second round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Asian qualifier is about to resume in March, which will lead to the final qualification round scheduled in the second half of 2021.

After being postponed for a year due to the effects of COVID-19, both men’s and women’s football competitions at the Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to take place on Thursday 22 and Wednesday 21 July, respectively. Although all categories of the Japan National Team were restricted with their activities this year, coach MORIYASU Hajime, who is the head of both the SAMURAI BLUE and the U-24 Japan National Team, commented, “With the tournament being postponed for a year, we were given an additional year to prepare ourselves, which allowed us to improve both as a team and as individuals.” The coach went onto share his aspiration for the Olympics, “We will strive to achieve our goal of winning the gold medal.”

The U-24 Japan National Team is scheduled to play in six matches ahead of the Olympics, including four international matches; Friday 26 March at Tokyo Stadium, Monday 29 March at Kitakyushu, Saturday 6 June at Oita, Saturday 12 June at Toyota, Aichi, and two matches at the KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2021; Monday 12 July at Nagai, Osaka, and Saturday 17 at Kobe. The opponent of each match will be announced following April’s drawing ceremony for the Olympics. .....

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