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Exclusive: The forward opens up to the ambitions of his national team after becoming the first Japanese to join a Ghanaian Premier League team
There has never been a single path to greatness. Jindo Morishita’s path to winning a first call-up for the Japan national team is not only fascinating but also quite unusual.
Last month, the forward made history by becoming the first Japanese professional footballer to join a Ghanaian club after signing a short-term contract with the Premier League’s Ebusua Dwarfs.
For the 25-year-old, who previously played in Zambia, the move was a big step that brings him one step closer to realizing a long-standing dream.
“I mentioned winning the Champions League in Africa [among my ambitions] and as a player, my greatest dream is to play in the Club World Cup in Japan as the representative of Africa, “said Morishita. Goal.
“On top of that, I think that any player who is playing football at a professional level, his ambition is to represent his country and obviously I have never stopped dreaming of playing for my own country.” [Japan].
“I think becoming one of the few Japanese players in Africa [bring me] an advantage of being seen [by Japan], so yeah, let’s wait.
“To be selected as for the Japanese national team, you have to do your best and give good results in the league and in the team you are playing, so we’ll see. That depends on the Japan Football Association, it is not my responsibility. I decide. But my dream is always to be there. “
But considering the variety of talents available from Japan in the major European leagues, and even those playing at home in the J1 League, one will easily wonder how realistic Morishita’s national team goal is.
“With regard to my own level and the current level of the Japanese team, in a year or two, it is not realistic [to get a call-up]”continued the 25-year-old.
“I was away from football during the Covid times. Personally I think I know the level of the national team, I have been training with players of the national team and I know their levels, so that is a very challenging goal for me.” .
“But putting myself in such a challenging environment in Ghana, I haven’t played in the Premier League in Ghana yet so I can’t say the level [or] the possibilities too far away. You never know what will happen in three or five years.
“I couldn’t imagine being in Ghana and playing in the Premier League three or five years ago. So in a few years, it may not be realistic, but I assume that my best moment as a professional player and my career will come in three to five years, so by then we will see.
Like almost all footballers, Morishita also has an eye on appearing in the FIFA World Cup. For many foreigners in Africa, an easier, and perhaps more realistic, route to the world masterpiece is to adopt a new nationality over time and represent the African nation where they are based.
“I didn’t have that idea in mind, but thanks for the idea. I like that. I don’t know how many years I need to stay here to be able to acquire a permanent residence and get Ghanaian nationality, ”said the forward on the subject.
“But if I’m really looking forward to playing in the World Cup and if the people of Ghana accept me to play for Ghana, that might be one of the options. That is an interesting option for me. I need to do some research on that in order to acquire Ghanaian nationality.
“The interesting thing is that I don’t feel much identity in myself as a Japanese. I was born in Japan, but I was raised outside of Japan, and there is a kind of identity crisis in me. It bothered me when I returned to Japan from the Netherlands because I did not behave like a Japanese.
“The Japanese are very calm, shy, respectful, but I was quite aggressive when speaking about what I thought, my opinion, and people did not enjoy that at some point, when I was 15 years old. And that made me think, ‘Am I really Japanese?’
“When I came to Africa for the first time, even now, my interior may not be Japanese, but people see me as Japanese, my appearance as Japanese and that was quite interesting for me. When I came to Africa, I realized that even a little part of me [gives me] a Japanese identity “.
As the Ghana Premier League resumes for the second round on Easter weekend, Morishita will have to wait a bit longer to start in the championship due to a delay in processing his paperwork.
