Japan's Kubo ready to give '150 percent' to beat Spain
Takefusa Kubo has been instrumental in Japan's push for an Olympic medal, and now the promising playmaker is ready to give Spanish football a reminder of why he already has spells at the country's biggest clubs.
The 20-year-old will lead the tournament hosts into their semi-final meeting with Spain on Tuesday aiming to steer the Japanese to their first medal in the men's tournament since securing a bronze at the 1968 Games in Mexico City.
But Real Madrid's Kubo will have other concerns on his mind in addition to ending a 53-year medal drought as he goes up against the nation that has shaped his football career.
"Ever since the draw was made, I've known all along that if we got there, our semi-final was going to be against Spain," he said after Japan's quarter-final shoot-out win over New Zealand.
"I've been taking it one game at a time so far, but this is where I bring it 100 per cent - no, 120 per cent, 150 per cent. I'm going to lead us to victory."
Kubo's commitment to the Japanese cause comes after spending much of the last decade in Spain.
He moved to Barcelona's famed La Masia academy at the age of 10 but was forced to return to Japan five years later after the club was found guilty of breaching transfer regulations involving young players.
Spells at J.League clubs FC Tokyo and Yokohama F Marinos followed before a return to Spain soon after his 18th birthday.
However, rather than re-signing with Barcelona as had been widely expected, Real Madrid swooped to capture Kubo.
Life back in Spanish football has seen his form fizzle rather than explode. He has yet to play for Madrid's first team and has, instead, been loaned out to Real Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe.
None of those stints have yielded much in terms of success, further adding to Kubo's motivation to make an impression against the Spanish on Tuesday.
Having already made a mark on this tournament by scoring the opening goal in all three of Japan's wins in the group phase, Kubo has been in touch with those he knows within Luis de la Fuente's squad to ramp up the hype.
"I have a lot of team-mates in Spain," said Kubo.
"In fact, I spoke to (Barcelona defender) Eric Garcia before (the New Zealand) match and we both wanted to meet in the semis.
"And it happened. We were friends, now we are rivals and we will give it our all. It's going to be a great match and hopefully, we can win."
(责任编辑:行业动态)
- 24 of the Oldest Trees in the World
- Bridgegate’s Bill Stepien joins Donald Trump campaign staff.
- 'The Walking Dead' introduces a new terror: The Whisperers
- FM calls Israel's entry ban on Koreans over new coronavirus 'excessive'
- DNC 2024 speech: Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have a superpower no other Democrat has.
- The Future of Tech: The Desktop PC
- Facebook made a quiet, shady change in response to a rough ‘60 Minutes’ segment
- Atletico Madrid finish third, Real Sociedad, Granada qualify for Europe
- 粤有好米,香飘世界!广东丝苗米惊艳亮相种业最大盛会
- Blinken condemns Russia
- Kansas City mayor spams Amazon with 1,000 reviews to secure HQ2
- Apple rumored to ditch Touch ID for Face ID in all future iPhones
- Renault protest Racing Point cars, again
-
Speeding space object triggered a warning. It wasn't an asteroid.
It's good to know that our planetary defense systems work. The European Space Agency revealed that o ...[详细] -
种业大会上的“绿美”_南方+_南方plus播下一粒种,圆一个田园梦,绿美的家庭,人人都向往。12月12日,第二十二届广东种业大会暨“百千万工程”种业交易中心启动活动简称“种业大会”)举行。同一天,绿美 ...[详细]
-
8 Twitter improvements that could actually help out
Twitter recently rolled out their latest update that finally made @ replies even more confusing. Now ...[详细] -
Badly photoshopped pic of Michael B Jordan goes viral for the best reason
Twitter may have its downsides, but few people would argue with how effective it can be at reuniting ...[详细] -
NYT mini crossword answers for August 29
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword ...[详细] -
Everything coming to Netflix in December 2018
For many, December means making Christmas lists, planning Hanukkah menus, and untangling endless str ...[详细] -
Atletico Madrid finish third, Real Sociedad, Granada qualify for Europe
MADRID:A late goal by Real Sociedad substitute Adnan Januzaj secured a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid o ...[详细] -
Guardiola seeks more consistency from Man City next season
LONDON:Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said the individual achievements of his players must be ...[详细] -
21 College and University Museums
University campuses have no shortage of knowledge—from eclectic libraries filled to the brim with ra ...[详细] -
Facebook made a quiet, shady change in response to a rough ‘60 Minutes’ segment
Facebook has said it wants to be more transparent. As usual with the social media giant, it's two st ...[详细]
First officially approved Gen IV nuclear reactor in the US breaks ground
Badly photoshopped pic of Michael B Jordan goes viral for the best reason
- Campbell highlights Washington Declaration amid security concerns over Putin
- Some 400 S. Korean tourists leave Israel on chartered flights
- N. Korean media airs documentary touting successful COVID response
- Surprise! Apple Music is coming to the Amazon Echo
- Tesla reveals Cybertruck has sold more than DeLorean
- 好种出好米!天润粮油丝苗米亮相广东种业大会
- 打造193个示范点、认捐超15亿元……优“粤”绿美答卷出炉!