Yutaka Tahara snubs A-League for Japanese Second Division
Friday, 06 March 09, 03:28 AM · Comments(2)
Sun, surf and sandy beaches. Sounds like a dream lifestyle, and former Kyoto Sanga striker has opted for it - sort of.
Tahara was reputedly a target for A-League club Adelaide United, but the temperamental striker - whose athletic physique can sometimes be categorised under the heading "portly" - has turned his back on a potential move to the City of Churches, to sign with J2 club Shonan Bellmare.
The seasiders finished fifth in a 15-team J2 last year, but having added three more clubs to the mix this season, Shonan - for whom Hidetoshi Nakata once turned out - could once again find promotion a tough ask.
Tahara's decision may have had something to do with the fact that Shonan will feature in a gruelling 51-game season in J2 this season, compared to Australia's revamped 28-game A-League.
More likely, though, it has much to do with a Japanese reticence to move overseas.
Certainly Japanese players are moving abroad in an ever-increasing number. But they're doing so to major European clubs like VfL Wolfsburg, or they're moving at a young age, as Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto did.
The mere prospect of a "nice lifestyle" is unlikely to entice too many Japanese players with little knowledge of English and even less awareness of a culture other than their own.
That's not to disparage Tahara - far from it. Rather it's an illustration that the hopes of Australian fans that Japanese players will use the A-League as a potential "launch pad to Europe" are at best naive and at worst, plain stupid.
Yutaka Tahara was just about the most "un-Japanese" player I've seen ply his trade in the J. League. From his grizzled beard to his bustling style, if ever a player was going to move to Australia, I thought Tahara might be it.
Not going to happen, folks.
If Yutaka Tahara is not up for the A-League... then don't expect too many other Japanese players to be booking flights Down Under any time soon.
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MikeTuckerman
AU
2 Comments · Add yours
I wouldn't have thought that too many pundits would be promoting the A-League as a stepping stone to Europe for Japanese or Korean players. Maybe for players from some of Asia's less well known leagues, such as those in South East Asia, but not for those from the established big leagues.
I wouldn't have thought it myself, but ever since Korean midfielder Song Jin-Hyung lobbed up at Newcastle Jets claiming (or so some say) that he wanted to learn English and put himself in the shop window for European clubs... it seems de rigeur for any fan that's ever watched an A-League game to proclaim that every single player in Asia simply must be determined to move to the A-League (because apparently this is what will help such players move to Europe... even though Japanese and Korean players have moved to Europe in their dozens without so much as having heard of the A-League, let alone played in it).