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Nairobi City Stars forward Yuto Kusaba has opened up on the challenges he had to go through in Japan before moving to Kenya.
Nairobi City Stars’ Japanese forward Yuto Kusaba has finally revealed the real reason he opted to sign for the FKFPL side back in August.
Kusaba has yet to make a single competitive appearance for the side owing to work-permit issues, but is expected to make his competitive debut for the side in January after all those issues were finally resolved.
After graduating from high school, he chased his dream of becoming a J-Leaguer and joined Rissho University Shonan High School soccer team, but he realized that he was just a "frog in the well."
Although he joined the top team, he fell behind in the competition for the forward position with his classmates, and even in his third year, he was unable to grab a starting position at the inter-high school tournaments and championships.
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"To put it nicely, I was a super sub," Kusaba said as quoted on Japanese outlet Football Zone.
He played for the Momoyama Gakuin University. Although he continued to play on the university's soccer team, time passed without him being able to grasp the clues to becoming a professional player.
Just before his fourth year, he was set to become captain, but he left the club and transferred to FC Easy 02 Akashi (currently FC Basara Hyogo), which was a member of the second division of the Kansai Adult League at the time.
The decision was made after careful consideration in order to increase his chances of becoming a pro, even if only by 1%.
Although he took on the challenge of playing in the amateur league and completed one season, he was not able to get involved in the games enough and was acutely aware of the high hurdles of joining the J-League and representing Japan.
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On New Year's Eve last year, he wrote on note (media platform), "I will give up on my dream of representing Japan and live in reality,''
He describes his feelings at the time when he lost the goal he had devoted his life to pursuing.
"Despite the timing of graduating from university, I don't think I'll be able to become a pro, but there are players who will become J-League players.
“Not only that, but others around me will become members of society after job hunting.
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"I feel sad and wonder, 'Is this the reality?' At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder if I really had the determination to continue pursuing my dream of becoming a pro, even in this condition."
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Kusaba has revealed that moving to Kenya to kickstart his career was the only option he had left, admitting that it would have been better to do that than be stuck on the unemployment radar.
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“It's my first time abroad and I don't know anyone, so I don't even know if there is an agent there who can introduce me,” Kusaba said.
“When I searched for "Japanese Kenyan soccer" on social media, I found one team, FC Zenshin, which belonged to Division 4 at the time, was founded by the NPO African Children's Education Fund (ACEF), which operated a local AIDS orphanage.
“When he directly approached the staff about joining the team, he was happy to accept, saying, `You can play with us until you become a professional'.''
Kusaba scored eight goals in 10 appearances for Zenshin before joining City Stars.
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