Mumbai’s Taisuke issues Samurai war cry

by Kaushal Shukla January 16, 2016

Taisuke Matsugae, Ryuki Kozawa, Arata Izumi and Min Chol Son, is a Japanese army that any football coach could gladly go to a war with. Although the latter, Min Chol Son is North Korean by nationality, his nurturing happened in Japan and you could be excused to mistake him to be a Japanese by the way he plays his football. Similarly, Arata Izumi is very much an Indian, but one can’t argue much about his footballing roots which hail from Japan.

There were few listeners when Taisuke Matsugae, who was appointed the skipper of the Mumbai FC side, voiced his disappointment about a lack of Asian players in the ISL, in an interview recently. But luckily and perhaps vitally for the Japanese midfielder, he had the most important pair of ears, that of the Mumbai FC Head Coach Khalid Jamil, whose revolution of sorts at Mumbai FC appears to have a strong Japanese flavour to it.

Taisuke’s wish is somewhat granted as Asian players have finally formed the spine of an Indian club in the top flight, but the onus is now on the Japanese to marshal an army consisting of some of his hand picked Generals and help them triumph in a war which they have never won before.

Taisuke perceives this charge, but sees this as a chance for his Asian Generals to prove their worth to the Indian Football fraternity or risk being overlooked for the time to come. “I am happy that there are a lot of Japanese and Asian players in Mumbai FC. But I feel this our big chance. We have to prove that Asian players can do a great job in Indian clubs. If we fail, there will be no team that would be wanting to take Japanese players. So it is a big responsibility on our shoulders,” Taisuke told Football Counter after a training session ahead of Mumbai FC’s first home game against East Bengal on Sunday.

It is not often that Taisuke evokes such strong emotions, but the Mumbai FC midfield maestro has certainly laid down a marker for his fellow Asian players not just in his Mumbai FC team, but all across the league, initially with his efficacious performances and now with some compelling words.

The Mumbai FC skipper believes there is more to his Mumbai FC side than just the Asian players as he revealed his great faith in the current squad, which according to the midfielder gives him a good feeling for the current season. “I look at the squad as a whole and I believe we have got a very good team. I have a good feeling for the upcoming season,” Taisuke said.

The Japanese spent a considerable time on the sidelines last season and that is something Taisuke wants to avoid as Mumbai FC chase the ultimate prize. “I was injured a lot last season and this season I want to stay fit. I have worked on my fitness and hopefully I will be able to serve my team better this time.” said the Japanese midfielder who refused to compare Mumbai FC’s team this season to the one last season as he felt his team-mates of last season will feel bad.