Japan footballers target unlikely source to prosper

Podgorica, Montenegro: Montenegro is an unlikely magnet for Japanese footballers hoping to catch the eye of the major European leagues.

Some 40 Japanese are playing in 22 professional clubs in the Balkan country with a population of just over 600,000 amd around 140 have so far played in the country.

The club badge of the newly formed FK Adrija features the mouth of the picturesque Kotor bay at the bottom and Sukarajima volcano at the top — almost Japanese in design.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing in Europe,” said Kino Seiya, a 21- year- old student from Tokyo, who has joined FK Adrija.

“Looking at the information that I gathered about the best place for acclimatizing to European football, Montenegro appeared a good first step towards a professional career,” he said.

While economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries are fairly rare, links through football are booming.

The greatest player in Montenegro’s history, Dejan Savicevic, who heads the country’s football federation, won the then- European Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991 and then again with AC Milan three years later.

The tradition of Yugoslav coaches working abroad led many of them to Japan, such as the well- travelled Vahid Halilhodzic who has guided Japan to qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

Others are Ivica Osim — who in 2006 and 2007 coached Japan — and Dragan ‘ Piksi’ Stojkovic, a former player and then coach of Nagoya Grampus Eight.

However, it is a lesser- known figure who since 2013 has been responsible for the Japanese enthusiasm for the mountainous nation bordering the Adriatic, whose clubs are struggling with decrepit infrastructure — a far cry from Japan. After playing in the lower divisions in Japan and training young players, Pedja Stevovic brought the Japanese to his homeland.

This year he founded FK Adrija in the capital Podgorica and the club aspires to compete in Montenegro’s higher divisions.

“Montenegrins are characterised by individual qualities, while discipline and responsibility are the strengths of the Japanese. Their interaction could make us progress enormously, both collectively and individuall,” said 46- year- old Stevovicy.