Former Kashima Antlers player Arsindo reveals that it was his destiny to appear in an Aderans commercial.

I learned a lot from Japan.

I am where I am today because of Japan. Japan has given me not only money, but also many of my life’s assets. Thirty years have passed since then, and I am still proud to have been involved in the early days of the J-League.

Arsindo Sartori, 57, said in high-pitched Portuguese as soon as we met at the hotel where we were to meet, “Ask me anything you want today! He continued, “Ask me anything you want today!

Sartori has played for Kashima Antlers since the first year of the J-League season in 1993. In late July, the “legendary striker” came to Japan to participate in the “Zico All-Star Game Hiroshima,” a charity match sponsored by Zico (72). FRIDAY’s request for an interview with the legend was gladly accepted.

Arsindo was 25 years old when he joined Kashima. Why did he come to Japan, a country halfway around the world, when he was just starting to get his feet wet as a player?

The reason was Zico. I made my debut at the age of 18 with Flamengo, a famous Brazilian team, and I played with Zico. To be honest, I only knew about Japan as a “very distant country.

However, I had heard from Zico, who had played in Japan two years before me, that I could live freely and safely, and that I could get any kind of foodstuff I wanted. The salary was good, too. Above all, Zico was like a god to me. How could I refuse him, right? (laughs).

He scored 50 goals in 71 games in his two years at Kashima. He has since played for Verdy Kawasaki (now Tokyo Verdy) and other clubs, scoring a total of 79 goals in the J-League, but the most memorable moment for him was “the opening game of the 1993 season,” he says.

The Kashima Stadium was packed with red supporters like Flamengo in Rio, and we beat Nagoya Grampus 5-0 with Zico’s hat trick and my two goals. Nagoya was a good match for me, and I scored another hat trick in a subsequent away game (Kashima won 4-0). Then, everywhere I went, I was surrounded by fans. My whole world changed (laughs).

Prior to the start of the J-League season, there were few expectations for Kashima, as its predecessor, Sumitomo Metals, was in the second division of the Japan Football League. But Arsindo led the team as if to save Zico, who was often out of shape.

I had confidence,” he said. We won the first stage of the J-League with Zico, Santos (64), and a great group of Japanese players, including Kurosaki (57), Honda (56), and Akita (55). Those are good memories.”

At the time, Japanese soccer had just turned from amateur to professional, and the World Cup was a dream come true, but Arsindo says he was surprised by the seriousness of the Japanese players.

At first, I was a little bit confused about playing with Japanese players, because they were so serious and serious about what they were doing,” he said. Because Japanese players only follow the manual on the pitch. …… (laughs). For example, when we were attacking, there was a situation where we had to raise a centering shot. In practice, the coach tells the players to go close to the goal line and raise the ball from there, so the Japanese players always try to raise the ball from near the goal line.

I was surprised and thought, “Wait a minute. There are many situations in a game, and you should attack according to the situation, right? Still, Japanese people are serious, so they learned a lot from Zico and foreign players and grew up fast. Back then, I never imagined that Japanese soccer would become so strong.”

I don’t hate that haircut.

It was a TV commercial for Aderans that made Arsindo’s popularity undeniable.

To a businessman on a train with a thinning top of his head, Arsindo warns him, “Soon, you will become Arsindo. When he thanks Arsindo for introducing Aderans to him, Arsindo replies, “Tomodachi nara, atarimae,” which is unthinkable today. According to Arsindo, the famous phrase “tomodachinara, atarimae” was “born by accident on the bus on the way back from an expedition.

I was sitting on the aisle with my legs thrown out, and Masa (Masaaki Furukawa, 56), the goalkeeper, got on. So I quickly pulled him back and said in Portuguese, ‘Amigo e´ para isso, ne´? (That’s what friends are like, right?)” In Portuguese, I said, “Amigo e´ para isso, ne´? Then Masa, who understands a little Portuguese, translated it into Japanese as ‘tomodachinara, atarimae. I liked the phrase, and every time I did something good, I said, ‘Tomodachinara, atarimae,’ and it became a buzz word among the team.

(Laughs)” Did you feel any resistance to having your thinning hair used in a nationally televised commercial?

No,” he said!　I thought that everything that happened in Japan was ordained by God and my destiny. And I didn’t dislike my hair. Before the J-League season started, Kashima went to Italy for a preseason camp, and I was thinking of getting a haircut there. I was thinking of getting a haircut there, but the Italian interpreter told me, “You should never get a haircut. If I had cut my hair short in Italy, I would have been a big hit in Japan. If I had cut my hair short in Italy, my life might have been different after that (laughs).

In fact, in addition to Aderans, there was another competing wig manufacturer that offered him a chance to appear in a commercial.

But the only condition was that I had to wear the wig during the game. For me, it was more embarrassing to wear a wig in front of so many people, so I’m glad Kashima turned me down (laughs).

After leaving Japan in 1997, Arcindo played in Brazil until 2000. He now runs a farm in São Miguel do Iguaçu, a rural town in southern Brazil near the famous Iguaçu Falls, one of the world’s three largest waterfalls. 350 ha (about 75 times the size of Tokyo Dome) of land is used for growing soybeans and corn.

San Miguel do Iguaçu is a small town, but I don’t like big cities like Rio de Janeiro,” he said. It’s small and quiet, maybe similar to Kashima.”

With these words, Arcindo once again expressed his gratitude to Japan.

I don’t have the hairstyle I used to have, so people don’t immediately recognize me when I walk down the street, but they know I’m Arsindo. But when they see that I am Arsindo, they immediately ask for a commemorative photo. This time, I was happy to see that many Japanese people still like me. I can’t find words to express my gratitude to Japan other than ‘thank you’!