Arata Izumi ‘s goal was to play football for India. And he gave up his motherland to fulfi ll that dream.
Before the 2014 FIFA world cup, there was a unique buzz around the then 19-year Adnan Januzaj who had donned the Manchester United jersey. There was curiosity about the national team he would play for at the Rio World Cup. He had a Belgian passport on account for his parents’ residency, while his Albanian and Kosovo descent made him eligible to play for these smaller teams. England wanted to rope in his services as he had passed the residency requirement of FIFA during his stay in Manchester. He eventually chose to go with Belgium, and the speculation came to an expected end. That’s the sort of hype the top football talent commands across the globe.
So it came as a surprise to those following Indian football when Arata Izumi, who plied his trade in Japan’s J-league (one of Asia’s most competitive leagues), chose to take up Indian citizenship in 2012 with the intention of playing for the Indian team, which almost exclusively treads foot balling backwaters. India in December 2012 was ranked 166 in the world, while Japan was at the 23rd spot.
This story is from the February 2017 edition of The MAN.
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This story is from the February 2017 edition of The MAN.
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