On Monday morning, Paris Saint-Germain Handball set off for Japan to kick off their pre-season preparations. Although the capital club is now visiting Tokyo for the fourth consecutive summer, for some this marks their first time representing Les Rouge et Bleu in the Land of the Rising Sun. This is particularly true of Rodrigo Corrales, who left Paris three years before the first Japan Tour took place.
Back again this summer, the Spanish goalkeeper made no secret of his delight at returning to a country and a culture he particularly admires: “I’ve already been lucky enough to visit Japan three times. I’ve been on holiday twice, and once for the Olympic Games in 2021. I really love Japanese culture, and I’m very happy to be making my return to the club this summer.”
A bronze medallist with La Roja in Tokyo in 2021, Corrales was struck by Japanese hospitality, which is renowned throughout the world. He was given a warm welcome again upon his arrival on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday evening, the whole squad gathered at a restaurant to spend some time together.
“I was a bit tired when I arrived because the journey is always a long one, but I remembered how welcoming the Japanese people are. They have wonderful values and gave us a very warm welcome. Last night, we went to a traditional restaurant. We had a lovely time with the team and the view was magnificent.”
After sleeping off the last remnants of any jet lag, Rodrigo and his team-mates got straight down to their preparations on Wednesday, with an intense programme: “There are two training sessions a day; the workload is heavy. We do weight training in the morning and train in the afternoon. We’re tired at the end of this first day, but we'll sleep well at night!”
As well as the training sessions, Stefan Madsen’s squad have some free time to enjoy Japanese culture. “I love Pokémon, and I’d really like to visit Shibuya and Shinjuku,” the new Parisian goalkeeper told us.
Following another training session on Thursday morning, the afternoon will be dedicated to team-building, with an introduction to baseball and a visit to the arcade. This should help to strengthen team spirit even further before the squad throws itself 100 per cent into preparations for their two upcoming friendly matches: against Zeekstar Tokyo and the Japan U21s (4 August and 5 August, 12:00 French time), which will be streamed on Paris Saint-Germain Handball’s YouTube channel.
