A few days ago, VfB welcomed a delegation from Japan to the VfB Club Centre. The guests included heads of youth development from the Japan Football Association (JFA) and seven youth internationals from the country’s U15 and U16 squads.
The visit featured a tour of the VfB youth academy centre, a presentation of the academy and a chance to watch first-team training, with a particular focus on experienced Japanese Bundesliga player Genki Haraguchi.
Exclusive meet-and-greet with Haraguchi
After the first-team training session, the delegation spoke to Haraguchi, who answered plenty of questions from the youth internationals about his career as well as what life is like for him in Germany and the experiences he has enjoyed. The visit was rounded off by a photo session with the Japanese pro, with VfB pennants handed out.
There is mutual interest for the ties between the Japanese FA and VfB Stuttgart to be strengthened in the future, with trips of this kind forming part of the club’s globalisation strategy and Japan one of its target markets.