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FBL-FRA-LIGUE1-PSG-JPN-SHOJI-TOULOUSE
After Ronaldo bruising, Japan’s Shoji now eyes stopping Mbappe
TOULOUSE, France, March 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Japan defender Gen Shoji has
already endured a bruising experience against one global superstar in
Cristiano Ronaldo but hopes that experience will work in his favour when he
confronts another in the shape of French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe on
Sunday.
Shoji gets his chance to shut out Mbappe, one of football’s hottest
properties, when his Toulouse team take on mighty Paris Saint-Germain in
Ligue 1.
The 26-year-old, who arrived in France in the winter transfer window, came
off worse when Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick in a 4-2 win for Real Madrid over
Kashima Antlers at the 2016 World Club Cup.
“With my Japanese club, we tried to stop Ronaldo collectively. In France,
when we defend, I feel as if the individual duel is more important so I will
have to adapt the way I do things against Mbappe and the others,” said Shoji.
“To compare Ronaldo and Mbappe, I will have to have played both of them. I
should have a better idea after the game but it will be complicated.”
Shoji, a native of Kobe, left Kashima Antlers — his only previous club —
after 11 years and has helped Toulouse to a respectable mid-table place in
Ligue 1.
“I wanted to have new experiences,” said Japanese international Shoji who
admitted he has had to quickly adapt to a vastly different culture in France.
“You have to get out of your shyness. In Japan, if you are a little
reserved someone will come to you; here, if you don’t make the effort, no one
will come to you.”
To help him integrate in La Ville Rose (The Pink City), Toulouse have
drafted in Japanese compatriot Toru Ota, who has played in the women’s teams
at Lyon and PSG.
She interprets for Shoji in the dressing room and translates tactical tips
being passed on to the pitch from the bench. A French teacher is also in the
process of being hired.
Shoji opted against joining Toulouse after the World Cup last summer
because he wanted to help Kashima win the Asian Champions League for the
first time.
– French quality –
With that ambition achieved in November, Shoji was free to move to France
in a three-million-euro deal.
“He learns very quickly. He has been a good purchase,” said Toulouse coach
Alain Casanova.
For his part, Shoji believes that from a technical perspective “the
Japanese championship is perhaps better” but “Ligue 1 is superior when you
add in the speed and physicality”.
“I was very surprised by the quality of French football,” added the 15-
time capped international who was left heartbroken by Japan’s World Cup
elimination in a 3-2 last-16 loss to Belgium in Russia last summer after they
had led 2-0.
“But you will see and I do not know when, maybe it will be after me, but
one day, Japan will go very, very far at the World Cup,” he predicted.
In his brief Ligue 1 career, Shoji has endured some sobering experiences –
– a 5-0 rout at the hands of Lyon was particularly painful.
“In Japan, with Kashima, we won all the time. I have never thought that I
have made a bad choice. I don’t have any experience of a team that has these
kind of difficulties. It’s important to have this kind of experience.”
Casanova is confident that Shoji will be a success story in France. To
help his new recruit, he has even picked up a smattering of Japanese.
“I have mastered the main words — hello and goodbye!”
BSS/AFP/MSY/1601 hrs