Interview with Yukinari Sugawara, Japan National Soccer Team Member: “There is a ine line between confidence and pride”

We must never stop moving forward.

Sugawara has been a member of the national team for each generation since his youth years, but he had a bitter experience of not being selected for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

“I was not selected because I did not deserve to be a member of the team at that time. It was no one’s fault, and I know that better than anyone else. That is why I rethought what kind of player I am and what I need to do to get to where I want to be. In many ways, I spent more time thinking about myself. There is no doubt that I am where I am today because of that frustration. However, I don’t want to simply summarize the past six months by saying, “I am here now because of that disappointing experience.’ I don’t want to stop until I can say, “I am glad I had that experience,” after 10 or 15 years have passed. I was unsuccessful in the Olympics and the World Cup two years in a row, so of course it will stay in my head forever. But I think I have to use that to become a more dominant player.”

 

Sugawara, who moved to the Netherlands as a teenager in 2019, has already lived there for more than four full years. However, he did not have time to get a car license, so he had to commute to practice and other events by scooter.

He said, “Just when I was going to driving school in Japan, I got transferred to AZ and the Coronavirus had emerged, so I didn’t really have a chance to get a car license. Well, even if I had a car, I haven’t been able to go anywhere because I’ve had a series of games in the league and for the national team.”

Last season, AZ finished fourth in the league. In the UEFA European Conference League, Europe’s third largest cup competition, AZ reached the semi-finals. As a defender, it is difficult for Sugawara to leave behind easy-to-understand numbers such as goals and assists, but he would like to see results as a team in order to make a move to one of the five major leagues.

 

“I think this is a year of competition. Numbers are important, but I also want to see how I can play throughout the 90 minutes. First of all, we must achieve better results than last season. I hope that will lead to a good result.”

Far from being complacent or careless, it will not be long before he steps up his game.

In the September match against Germany, he showed off both his offensive and defensive skills by scoring two goals without allowing FW Napoli (Bayern) to do his job.

 

From the October 27, 2023 issue of FRIDAY