On the third day of the France expedition, April 5 (Wednesday), we moved to a training center for football in France called Clairefontaine in the morning and had lunch in the cafeteria on the premises.
After that, Mr. Mikael, the vice principal of Clairefontaine, guided us around the facilities.
As it is a facility used by the French national team for training camps, I was able to directly see and feel the historical buildings, numerous pitches, and the latest equipment, including cameras for analyzing matches and training.
In the afternoon, a training match with Clairefontaine U-14 will be held with 35-minute halves.
Building on the reflections from the previous day, we continue to engage in back-and-forth battles, boldly challenging opponents with high individual skills and techniques, and persistently stretching out to win the ball even while being knocked down.
In the midst of this, we conceded a goal in the 27th minute of the first half after the opponent broke through behind us. We go into halftime trailing 0-1.
In the 17th minute of the second half, we conceded a goal from a mistake, making it 0-2.
Still, they created numerous scenes approaching the goal with high pressing and coordinated defense, but despite not being able to score, FC Tokyo's shot hit the hand of an opponent in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick.
In the 28th minute of the second half, Riku NAKASHIMA calmly converted the penalty to make it 1-2, but the match ended as is.
Although we were able to play our own style of football against a strong opponent, it was a match where we experienced the fear of being caught off guard for just a moment.
After the match, we were able to commend each other's efforts and spend a wonderful time together.
Later, when I entered the Paris Saint-Germain FC dormitory for dinner, I encountered Ethan Mbappé (brother of Kylian Mbappé) and Warren Zaïre-Emery, who at just 17 years old has already made his debut with the first team. They were also happy to pose for a commemorative photo.
It is the third day of the expedition, and we are having a very meaningful time not only in soccer but also outside the pitch.
