Imports find their feet in season two

THE contrasts could hardly have been greater. The final images of Bobo’s first ALeague season featured the championship trophy around his neck.

The final moments of Jumpei Kusukami’s debut season in the A-League were of a player on his haunches, slumped in the knowledge his missed penalty had brought Western Sydney’s title hopes to a halt in the elimination final.

But beneath the differences were some themes in common, issues of a new culture, a new language and a new home that only now are coming to light.

A few weeks ago Bobo detailed the differences between this season and last; how his fitness, strength and confidence had all improved.

“It takes time to adapt to a new country and a new club,” he said. “This year I feel much better.”

It was a surprising admission for a man who scored 15 goals last season and helped Sydney FC win the league. But if you don’t speak the language, if the football is physically tougher than you expect, and if star status weighs heavi- ly, then the pressures add up.

Bobo at least had prior experience of living abroad for a number of years, and he was part of a winning team. Kusukami came to the Wanderers to live and play overseas for the first time at the start of last season. He talked, quite bravely, later in the season about the culture shock involved in the move to Australia, and it was no surprise his best performances came in the Asian Champions League.

It’s a measure of how things have changed for him person- ally that he will be vital to the Wanderers’ chances of getting something from the Sydney derby tonight. His confidence is clearly far higher. Far more comfortable with the language, he is popular with his teammates. Perhaps most importantly, his partner has moved from Japan and is exploring Sydney with him.

It’s almost the inverse of the difficult second album syndrome; the second season when you reap the benefits of the effort to build a new life in a foreign land.