Despite a stop-start Liverpool career thus far, the rise of Takumi Minamino points to a player well-versed in adversity and scrapping for success
Tag: japan
It is clear that Japan is bursting at the seams with young talent, players who could take the nation from dangerous underdogs to genuine power
Between the abundant goalkeeping howler, incredible supporters and superb standard, Japan’s J2 League may be the best you’ve never seen
Japan is an intoxicating blend of the traditional and the futuristic. It is a unique culture, with a prevailing attitude of respect and deference that underpins its society and shapes its values,…
In the summer of 2002, Asian football was thrust into the global spotlight thanks to a highly successful World Cup in Japan and South Korea. The entire planet sat back and revelled in…
Despite its relative success, it’s fair to say that Celtic fans don’t look back as fondly on Gordon Strachan’s stint as manager as they do on Martin O’Neill’s five-year tenure. O’Neill put Celtic…
In 1991, Japanese football was at its lowest point. Their top flight was played by amateurs and the football association knew something needed to be done. The birth of the J League soon…
Few of football’s best and brightest managers would ever chance an exotic venture in a far-off country, especially while their reputation was growing. When one such opportunity came Arsène Wenger’s way in…
KOBE IS A BUSY CITY. Of course, most cities are busy, but Kobe is busy in a way that seems to morph effortlessly from one version of itself to another, almost in…
THE SUCCESS OF any organisation is rarely down to just a few contributors, much like how a jigsaw is deemed incomplete even if a single piece is lost. As a result of that,…
When Kazuyoshi Miura made his professional debut, Diego Maradona had just lifted the World Cup and Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister
IT SITS THERE, almost like an unexpected guest. Mount Fuji impressively intrudes on a Sunday morning flight between Nagasaki and Tokyo. The peak of the iconic mountain is so high that it…
THERE IS AN EERIE CALM TO THE CITY OF NAGASAKI, which is difficult to gauge. It is a spellbindingly friendly city, one which is rightly proud of a heritage which stretches back…
Illustration by Federico Manasse Before the summer of 2002, Asia was largely forgotten by the footballing world. A general awareness existed among top-level clubs that the continent offered large swathes of untapped…
THERE IS A JAPANESE PHRASE which translates roughly to “the frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean”. A general interpretation is that those who do not experience the world…
EACH PREMIER LEAGUE season provides a stark reminder of the global reach of the English game and its continual ability to extend into previously untapped areas of the plane, in search of…
On 14 May 1992, Gary Lineker scored his final goal in English football as Tottenham Hotspur lost 3-1 to Manchester United. Following the game, players, managers and fans across the UK began to…
PART OF WHAT MOTIVATED ME IN FOOTBALL was the drive to improve. Growing up, I was afforded an unconventional footballing education, one that took from the gritty and talent-rich leagues of south San…