NEWS

 

The Japan Under-16 squad has been named for the AFC Under-16 Championship, slated for October 4-18 in Tashkent, which serves as a qualifier for the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

The 23-strong squad, under the guidance of coach Yutaka Ikeuchi, will hold a training camp from September 23 in Shizuoka before heading to the capital of Uzbekistan.
In the 16-team biannual tournament, Japan, who won the 2006 edition in Singapore, will play Malaysia on October 5, the United Arab Emirates on October 7 and Yemen on October 9 in Group D.
The top two finishers will join their counterparts from the other three groups in the quarterfinals, scheduled for October 12. The semifinals will be held on October 15 with the final taking place on October 18.
Hosts Uzbekistan will play Iran, Singapore and Bahrain in Group A; Syria, Korea Republic, India and Indonesia will compete in Group B; while China, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Turkmenistan will face each other in Group C.
The top four teams in the tournament will earn a berth in next year’s Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.

Squad:
Goalkeepers—Eisuke Fujishima (Ozu High School), Koki Matsuzawa (Ryutsu Keizai Univ. Kashiwa High School), Ryuki Miura (FC Tokyo U-18)
Defenders—Ryuki Nakajima (Aomori Yamada High School), Tatsuya Uchida (Gamba Osaka youth), Ryo Tashiro (Shimizu S-Pulse youth), Yuma Hiroki (FC Tokyo U-18), Kyohei Uchida (Jubilo Iwata youth), Mikiya Yamada (Gamba Osaka youth), Koji Takano (Tokyo Verdy youth)
Midfielders—Seiya Mochizuki (Gamba Osaka youth), Yuki Kobayashi (Tokyo Verdy youth), Takashi Usami (Gamba Osaka youth), Shota Wakuda (Jubilo Iwata youth), Gaku Shibasaki (Aomori Yamada High School), Yoshiaki Takagi (Tokyo Verdy youth), Yuki Horigome (Ventforet Kofu youth), Ryo Miyaichi (Chukyo Univ. Chukyo High School), Shuto Kohno (JFA Academy Fukushima)
Forwards—Keisuke Kanda (Kashima Antlers youth), Takuto Haraguchi (Gamba Osaka youth), Takumi Miyayoshi (Kyoto Sanga U-18), Kenyu Sugimoto (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
Coach—Yutaka Ikeuchi>