Failure to Pass the Team, Vuitton bag on His Birthday, and the Setback and Secret Story of Ritsu Doan, a Mischievous Ace.
A legend! The key man who awakened Moriyasu Japan: Big mouth, who declared "World Cup winner," scored two goals with determination.
The key figure in Japan’s advance to the finals of the tournament was undoubtedly Ritsu Doan (24), who scored twice, the most goals in the team’s history.
His post-match interview comments, such as “We are aiming for the championship,” and “I thought I had to decide,” tend to make him seem like an easy-going guy, but Doan is more than just a big mouth. What lies behind this is the confidence he has gained after overcoming numerous setbacks. Masao Kiba, 48, a former Gamba Osaka commentator who knew Doan as a youngster, says, “When Doan was in the fourth grade of elementary school, he was a big fan.”
Masao Kiba, 48, a former Gamba Osaka commentator who knew Doan as a youngster, says, “Doan experienced his first setback when he was in the fourth grade of elementary school when he was not selected for the Cerezo Osaka team test. He used that frustration as a springboard to train harder, and by the time he entered junior high school, he had offers from many clubs, including Cerezo. Doan chose Gamba over Cerezo out of all of them. It shows his competitive spirit that he dared to go to the rival team of the team that dropped him.”
After playing for Gamba Osaka, Doan moved to PSV in the Netherlands in 1919. Here, he experienced for the first time in his soccer career, “not being able to play in a game. But even so, Doan was not discouraged. Yo Hayano, 38, who served as coach of the Nishinomiya Boys SS team he played for as an elementary school student and has been friends with him for 14 years, looks back on those days.
When I went to Holland to see Ritsu, he gave me a Louis Vuitton bag for my birthday, even though he really wanted to talk about himself. He was always very strict with himself, but he was also incredibly kind to others.
In March of this year, Doan was dropped from Japan’s national team, and it seemed hopeless that he would not make it to the World Cup, but he said, “It would be a shame if people didn’t pay attention to me. Think about it. If it were a comic book or a TV drama, when I was eliminated from the national team in March, it would be me who would play an active role in the World Cup, wouldn’t it?” In an interview, Ritsu did exactly what he said he would do.
In a word, Ritsu is pure. Ritsu has worked hard to win the World Cup, and I am sure he was convinced that it was not an unreachable goal.
Doan, who had overcome many obstacles, was undaunted by the world’s best and blasted home a goal with his left foot.
From the December 23, 2022 issue of “FRIDAY
PHOTO： Photographed by JMPA
