Abandoning the passing aesthetic for reasons and "different nature of consciousness", it has been 23 years since the double match against Juventus
Originally published in 2018.
On September 13, 1998, a 21-year-old Japanese footballer shocked Serie A. Scored two goals against world club Serie A champions Juventus. Not only were the Italians skeptical, but even the Japanese did not expect it, and he proved his strength. Who is this pioneer who subverts common sense, Hidetoshi Nakata?
According to T Sang, a member of the editorial board who has worked with us for nearly 20 years, as of 2008, most of the editorial board members of Number were born during the Pingcheng period (1989-2019).
"So, a lot of kids don't know about Nakata's debut in Perugia. It is also not known what the existence of Hidetoshi Nakata meant to Japan at that time. ”
It was in this understanding that on September 13, 1998, Hidetoshi Nakata, who had officially announced his transfer from Hiratsuka Bima (now Shonan Bima) to Perugia, played serie A giants Juventus at the Renato Curry Stadium at home, scoring two wonderful goals in the match.
First goal
Second goal
When this issue was published, it was exactly 20 years ago.
Even the 29-year-old Heisei's first generation, who was only 9 years old at the time, was a fourth-grade elementary school student.
By the way, for me born in 1966, the earliest sporting event that I remember was the Match between Antonio Inogi and Muhammad Ali on June 26, 1976, so I wouldn't laugh at editors born after Heisei for not remembering Nakata's shocking debut.
But that was the day that went down in the history of Japanese sports.
Nakata is battling the Japanese subconscious
Without Goku Nakajima, Japan would not have set off an F1 boom. Without the challenge of Hero Noshige, Major League Baseball might still be out of reach for the Japanese.
The 1980s and 1990s were also the era of various pioneers in the Japanese sports world.
Of course, before Nakajima and Shigeru Nobu, there were not Japanese who did not go global. I also don't want to deny their credit. Before the bubble economy, however, the Japanese were not as interested in overseas as they are now. Even if there is, there are many people who feel that this is something that has nothing to do with them, that it is an unattainable dream.
Many Japanese take it for granted that they are Japanese as a reason for not being able to win worldwide. For example: because we don't have this ability. Because we are in poor physical fitness. Because we are an agrarian people.
Every time they lose a world competition, the media will use words such as "Wall of Asia" and "Wall of the World" without scruples to build a solid glass ceiling in the consciousness of the Japanese.
Thus, the pioneers fought not only against the world, but also against the Japanese subconscious. Because when Japanese young people go to the world, they are more negative than anyone, pessimistic than anyone, and they have to drag their feet more than anyone.
In an environment where everyone but yourself can be said to be the enemy
Unfortunately, this also applies to myself.
I never thought of dragging Hidetoshi Nakata's hind legs. I don't remember it at all, but according to a 20-year-old column that the editorial department T-San helped me find, I wrote: "The ability of Japanese footballers is not as low as the Italians think." I'm almost certain that Nakata will surprise the Italians. ”
Of course, that's just Hidetoshi Nakata in my personal perception, because my life in Spain has made me feel the level of European football, and more importantly, it contains my expectations. When I heard that Goku Nakajima was going to play in F1, when I heard that Shigeru Nobu was going to join the Dodgers, I felt like a lot of people, thinking that this was a fantasy.
Therefore, I do not want to deny the possibility of the Japanese. Nor do I think I am qualified to deny it.
However, for those who have not experienced the challenges of pioneers and pioneers first-hand, it is important to imagine it.
In an environment where everyone but oneself can be said to be an enemy, challenge the difficulties and greatness of a land that has never been set foot.
Even so, some people must know that the first opportunity for Number magazine to make a leap forward was the 10th issue of the magazine, which is the Long Island Shigeo special collection in "Number10".
Since then, the road to F1 has been opened by Goku Nakajima, and the road to Mlson League baseball has been opened by Nobuh.
Number, Nagashima, Nakajima, Nomo and Nakata.
Is this a coincidence?
Their initials are all N!
"Maybe the consciousness is a little different."
At the beginning of June, on the eve of the opening of the World Cup in Russia, Hidetoshi Nakata and I embarked on a trip to Italy to visit the clubs he played for: Perugia, Roma, Bologna, Parma, Florence, to their respective home stadiums, enjoying wine and food in their respective places, like an adult hike.
Although the above scenes are also introduced in the published "Hidetoshi Nakata in Italy 20th Year", some of Nakata's words were only beginning to appreciate their significance after hearing them, writing them out, and printing them.
I remember it happened on the training ground in Rome. The topic suddenly strayed from the subject and turned to Ivan De la Pena. How many people remember? He grew up in Barcelona, known as "Cruyff's child", "little living Buddha", and even some people say that the 21st century will become his own era.
Della Pena
However, Raul of Real Madrid at the same time needless to say, compared with the outside world is not optimistic about joining Peruga's Nakata Hideshou, De la Pena's future may be broader, but De la Pena has hardly left any highlight moments in Serie A, although he joined Lazio, who is much stronger than Perugia, in the same season as Nakata.
The reason for this, Nakata said.
"De la Pena is a good player, right? But he is Spanish, so he can choose to return to Spain even if he fails. But for me, when I came to Italy, I didn't have the option of going back to Japan at all. Either play well and break out of the sky, or sink in. Maybe our starting point, or our determination, is a little different. ”
In fact, after Lazio's defeat, De la Pena, who did not achieve much in the following Marseille career in France, ended his career in his hometown of Barcelona (although not his birthplace), the Spaniard. Although he was selected for the Spanish national team during his time with Espanyol, given his talent and expectations, it is undeniable that he has not achieved great results.
When I heard Nakata's comment about De la Pena, all I had in mind was: "Wow, good review." "To be honest, if I hadn't had a chance to write about Hidetoshi Nakata again, I would most likely have ignored it without noticing anything.
A little different in enlightenment?
In retrospect, this sentence contains a lot of meaning in it.
Prior to moving to Lazio, De la Pena had scored 11 goals in 81 appearances at Barcelona, while Nakata scored 16 goals in 85 games against Hiratsuka, almost identical in terms of goals scored.
However, in his first season with a move to Perugia, Nakata scored in double figures for the first and last season of his European career, while De la Pena did not score a single goal.
At that time, the Serie A was the world's top league and had the reputation of a small World Cup, which is a well-known fact. So, which of the J-League or the Spanish Football League is higher? At this thought, what Nakata Hidetoshi did seems absurd.
Reasons to abandon the passing aesthetic
For two goals against Juventus in serie A's opening match, Nakata said he could only choose to shoot at the time. If it is his usual self, it is a position that does not consider shooting, but in order to break the doubts of not being trusted by the outside world and not being able to pass the ball, he must score with a shot.
"Until then, I've always paid a lot of attention to passing, or something like aesthetics, and how to pass good balls and funny balls is what I've always focused on. But since I'm playing as a foreign player in Italy, which doesn't have any reputation, I have to get famous in the form of a goal score first, otherwise I can't do what I want to do. ”
In other words, in order to survive in Serie A, he did something he had not done before. On the other hand, De la Pena was considered a good direct passer when he played for Barcelona, on the other hand, he was also accused of poor defensive awareness, and later received the same evaluation after coming to Italy. Moreover, in Italy, where defensive awareness is far higher than Spain's, this shortcoming is infinitely magnified.
Indeed, even if the consciousness is different, there is helplessness.
Nevertheless, it is also true that the consciousness hidden in Nakata's heart at that time was quite different.
Nakata was 21 when he put on the Perugia shirt. Even if he fails, there is still time and opportunity for him to correct his mistakes. However, he chose to cut off the road "back to the J-League and start over" in advance and then head to Italy. What a strange decision it was, as can be seen from the path that later challengers have taken.
Choose not to return to the J-League
After Hidetoshi Nakata, many players are looking for an active stage in Europe. There are both successful players and those who fail to achieve their wishes.
But so far, only Nakata Hidetoshi has managed to transfer to European clubs, did not return to the J League and then chose to retire.
Looking back now, Shigeru Nobu, who opened up the path of Major League Baseball, did not return to the Japanese professional baseball world. Maybe he had completely cut off the way out by the time he got to Los Angeles, and the heaviness and fear in their hearts was beyond our imagination.
Hidetoshi Nakata changed a lot of things. His success has taught many that even the Japanese can reach the world's highest peak above the clouds. This also gradually lost its outline of the illusion of "Japanese marginal theory" accumulated by the Japanese for a long time after the war.
Translation source: Sports Graphic Number
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