A new initiative that connects to the future, started with the frustration.
People, players, and stories. Introducing the 2024 PLAYER'S REVIEW, featuring all the blue and red warriors who fought through the 2024 season. What were their thoughts and feelings during the season? Confidence, progress, challenges, joy, and regret... Each player will reflect on their battles this season in their own words.
Hotaka NAKAMURA returned from a major injury after about one season in April this year. However, he suffered another injury in that game and was unable to shine on the pitch throughout the season, spending difficult and frustrating days. What were the feelings he had in the 2024 season and the diligent efforts he started for the future?
Hotaka NAKAMURA constantly strives to improve himself, surpassing who he was yesterday. He takes small steps towards his ultimate goal. After team practice, he takes off his cleats and runs barefoot on the grass. This is a routine he has never missed.
Suffered a right Achilles tendon rupture in April of last season. This season, which was aimed at a full recovery from the major injury, returned to the starting lineup for the first time in about one season in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Sec. 6 match against Urawa Reds in April, but suffered a left thigh strain in that match and left the battlefield again. After returning to the pitch, he started running barefoot as part of his physical training.
"I suffered a muscle tear at a crucial time. I am facing my body's essence from scratch and first creating a body that can finish without getting injured. I am doing this as a first step."
Step by step, steadily──. That's how we connect each day carefully. I don't expect immediate results. Still, I believe in the power of "continuation" and have been living each day with that in mind.
"I don't expect immediate results. Whether it's next season or the season after that. I don't know how many years my soccer career will continue, but I keep looking ahead and doing it for the future."
After making a comeback in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Sec. 17 match against Sagan Tosu on May 31st, it became a season where I couldn't fully establish myself as a starter. I couldn't even make it to the bench and carried a feeling of frustration. Maintaining my fluctuating mind and body was even more difficult than I imagined.
"I don't want people to understand this feeling. I just want to be able to look back and feel like I've grown from where I am now."
He realizes that he is not strong, saying, "I'm not strong after all." So he says, "I know that I am prone to ups and downs." He has also overcome many injuries and his way of facing himself has changed for the better. He does not hold onto his frustration, but instead lets it out with a long breath.
"I've been trying to get better than I was yesterday. That's my motivation. I don't know how many more years I can play soccer, but I'm kicking the ball with the feeling that I'm growing even just a little bit."
After turning professional, it became the "most difficult season".
"It's not like suddenly going from 0 to 80 or 100 percent. You have to start with 20, 30, 40... and bring it there first. Of course, I want to give 100 percent, but it was a year where my mind and body couldn't keep up. By accepting that, it led to how to take one step at a time and how to keep going steadily. It's frustrating, but this is my current situation. But it's not over yet, and I don't want it to end. I can feel the difficulty of being in this world again. How I use this season for the rest of my soccer life is up to me. I don't know how I will change in 1 or 2 years."
Someday, we will raise our sails high, gather the wind, and charge forward on the pitch──. "Someday... someday again," we will live in the present moment.
Text by Koji Baba (Freelance Writer)
