On the second day of the expedition, two training sessions were held in the morning and afternoon. The morning session was held on a natural grass field. Many children were playing soccer at the same facility, and when FC Tokyo started their practice, they were always surrounded by many spectators (and recorded on video). Whether it's the atmosphere of the practice or the attention on Japanese player development, training in a different environment than usual will be a good experience for the players.

There are always many spectators at FC Tokyo's practice.

Natural Grass Field Practice

In the afternoon practice, we confirmed the defense of set plays in preparation for tomorrow's game. The intense training, just like a real match, received high praise from coaches of other clubs, saying "FC Tokyo's training is very disciplined and the players are also focused."

Concentrate and train	Set Piece Confirmation

Now, as I mentioned yesterday, let me introduce you to the "Guangzhou Evergrande Football School" that is currently on a training expedition here. This school was established as a lower organization of "Guangzhou Evergrande", the reigning champion of the ACL last year, and it is a boarding school equipped with 48 fields, a gymnasium, a library, a student dormitory, and accommodation facilities. "Evergrande" is the name of a huge Chinese corporate group. They also have a partnership with Real Madrid, and I saw many Spanish coaches there. The number of students exceeds 2,500, and it has even been certified by Guinness. However, not all 2,500 students are elite selected through a selection process. Rather, anyone can enter as long as they pay the tuition, so it can be said to be a combination of a soccer school and a boarding school (elementary and junior high school) like in Japan.
Before coming here, I thought it was a football elite education institution with a scale of nearly 3,000 people. However, it seems that it is not the case. According to the staff, the school operation is not covered by the students' tuition fees (which are quite high), and a large part of it is borne by Evergrande. It also seems that Evergrande has a strong social contribution as a company, as it creates a lot of employment opportunities in the local area.

The facilities are very clean and above all, the food (of course, authentic Chinese cuisine!) is very delicious. The climate is also great, and the people's response is very polite, so it is a very good training environment. When thinking about the future of the players, it may be better to struggle a little more. I want to leave a good result in the tournament from tomorrow and repay this environment.

Practice Court 48

The number of students has been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records.