On the 1nd, Frankfurt, the German first division soccer league, held a practice session in Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, the hometown of former Japan national team member HASEBE Makoto, before launching a junior high school youth team in April.
Since last year, Frankfurt has been promoting exchanges in Fujieda City, where coaches coaches coach children, and as part of their player development strategy, they will launch a junior high school youth team in April.
On the 4nd, before the inauguration, the practice of the team in which 22 junior high school students participated in April was open to the public, and on the 4nd, Hasebe, who had just announced that he would continue to play, also participated as a coach.
During the training to train reflexes using English, Hasebe said with a smile, "Let's improve our English skills as well."
In addition, in a mini-game to check the flow to the goal while keeping the ball, Hasebe also participated and gave instructions in a loud voice.
One player who participated in the training said, "It was fun to have Hasebe and the German coach, and I want to gain experience here and become a player like Iniesta."
Nicolai Adam, Head of International Sports Planning in Frankfurt, said, "Fujieda's children are at a very high level, but we want to raise the level by passing on the experience they have gained over many years in Germany."
Hasebe said, "I am glad that the club has established a youth team in my hometown, and I would like to be actively involved in expanding the possibilities as much as possible because this age group is growing rapidly."