One among 5 Japanese to have performed in each German and Spanish high divisions, Hiroshi Kiyotake was joyful to see his nation be a part of the previous World Cup winners in Group E of this 12 months’s event in Qatar.
At the moment captaining his outdated facet Cerezo Osaka within the J-League first division, the 32-year-old mentioned his sentiment was not essentially simply nostalgia from his time in Europe however extra from Japan attending to face two title favorites on the largest stage.
Cerezo Osaka’s Hiroshi Kiyotake (C) celebrates after scoring in a J-League first division match towards Urawa Reds on Could 25, 2022 at Yodoko Sakura Stadium in Osaka. (Kyodo)
“I have been away from the nationwide group for some time, so I hoped to see the matchups as a person Japan fan,” Kiyotake, who was final referred to as up in March 2017 earlier than a string of accidents dominated him out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, instructed Kyodo Information not too long ago.
“It would be usually checked out as a troublesome group, however I felt we have gone into a great one. I hoped for us to go in there a bit and thought, ‘Wow, it would be attention-grabbing.'”
An agile attacker with imaginative and prescient and delicate touches off each ft, Kiyotake was a significant cog in Japan’s fourth-place 2012 London Olympic group, who beat Spain 1-0 within the opener at Hampden Park.
Japan’s Hiroshi Kiyotake (L) vies for the ball with Spain captain Javi Martinez through the first half of an Olympic males’s soccer Group D opener towards Spain at Hampden Park on July 26, 2012. Japan beat Spain 1-0. (Kyodo)
His solely World Cup look got here in 2014 in Brazil, however he remained on the bench as Japan suffered a 2-1 comeback defeat to Ivory Coast earlier than a 0-0 draw with 10-man Greece. He got here on with simply 5 minutes left within the ultimate group sport towards Colombia because the Samurai Blue misplaced 4-1 to exit the event.
“From my time on the Olympics and World Cup, I actually really feel the significance of the primary sport,” he mentioned. “Getting the momentum hinges on that sport.”
The Oita Trinita youth product left Cerezo for Germany proper after the Olympics, and following two seasons every with Nurnberg and Hannover, scoring 17 objectives in 117 Bundesliga appearances, Kiyotake sees frequent themes in Japanese and German footballers.
Hiroshi Kiyotake (L) of Nurnberg is pictured in motion towards Bayern Munich in a Bundesliga match on August 24, 2013 in Munich, Germany. (Bongarts/Getty/Kyodo)
“Germany are fairly much like Japan in that everybody performs with self-discipline, and in that sense I am anticipating a strong strategy from each side with particular person variations settling the matter,” he mentioned.
Whereas acknowledging Germany as a “well-balanced group” marshaled by keeper Manuel Neuer, Kiyotake mentioned three factors ought to stay Japan’s objective somewhat than fascinated with a draw from the beginning.
“We have the possibility to play a very good group in Germany and I personally need Japan to go for the win, and part of me thinks we truly may,” he mentioned.
“We have many gamers enjoying in Germany, some in Spain too, and I reckon it would be simpler enjoying video games towards sides with gamers who lots of our members know nicely.”
Kiyotake’s spell in Spain lasted half a season after he joined the then three-time reigning Europa League winners, Sevilla, in 2016.
It arguably stays probably the most high-profile Japanese transfer to La Liga, with Takefusa Kubo but to play for his father or mother membership Actual Madrid. Yoshito Okubo, Takashi Inui, Shinji Okazaki and Yoshinori Muto, who all had Bundesliga spells, performed for groups out of title rivalry in Spain.
Kiyotake had an auspicious debut, enjoying a full 120 minutes in a 3-2 extra-time UEFA Tremendous Cup defeat to Actual Madrid, earlier than scoring one and organising one other in Sevilla’s 6-4 La Liga opening win over Espanyol. However issues fizzled out following Samir Nasri’s late mortgage arrival from Manchester Metropolis, compounded by his personal language points.
The competitors for attacking midfield positions was fierce and considered one of his direct rivals, left-footed Pablo Sarabia who joined the Andalusian facet on the identical time, is about to face in Japan’s manner in Qatar.
“He was a very earnest, quiet participant and really skillful from the beginning,” Kiyotake mentioned of the 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain man, who scored in Spain’s final two UEFA Nations League matches towards Switzerland and the Czech Republic in June.
“The best way he stored the ball was distinctive, troublesome for others to dispossess. He may lay it off to somebody if put underneath strain, or use that as a ruse to skip previous a defender himself.”
“(However) the largest factor was his knack to be in entrance of objective. It is exhausting to be each a playmaker and finisher, and that is the place I feel he is a great participant.”
Kiyotake nonetheless has the expertise of beating Spain in Glasgow and instructed the tireless strategy from that sport, which noticed their technically gifted counterparts go a person down after conceding, may present a foothold.
“Our pre-Olympic status wasn’t excessive in any respect and our precedence was to run exhausting at them as we had nothing to lose. We had been placing every of their gamers underneath strain on a regular basis,” he mentioned. “I feel that can be a should towards Spain.”
“They will have the majority of possession and can peel away simply if we maintain doing one-on-ones, so how we pressurize their ball-holder can be necessary.”
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