Filipino blazing a trail through European football
9 hours ago
A trailblazer for footballers from the Philippines, Europe-based Daisuke Sato is hoping his journey can inspire more of his compatriots to head in his direction…
When Philippines international Daisuke Sato signed with Romanian side CSMS Iași last month, he created history as the first Filipino to move from a domestic club to one in Europe.
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I just wanted to show the people that players from the Philippines can play anywhere
While the Azkals are not short of players with European experience, they were all born and raised in Europe, opting to represent the Philippines after already establishing club careers across the continent.
Sato, born in Davao City but raised in Japan before moving back to the Philippines as a 19-year-old, is the first to make the move from a local club, something of which he is very proud.
“I am proud of myself to make this move from the Philippines,” he told FourFourTwo. “This is my mother’s country. My father also [who is Japanese], but especially my mother, she’s really proud of how I’ve done with everything.
“I just wanted to show the people that players from the Philippines can play anywhere. I wanted to prove that to the people of the Philippines.
image:
images.cdn.fourfourtwo.com/sites/fourfourtwo.com/files/styles/inline-image/public/daisuke_sato_globalfc.jpeg?itok=i7y3obmxSato during his successful stint with Global FC
“We play well in the national team so everyone has the chance to move to a big football country.”
Sato has spent the last month with the Romanian outfit, which finished seventh last season, after impressing its Italian manager Nicolò Napoli during a trial at a recent training camp in Turkey.
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The manager said ‘you need to be here immediately’
“My agent talked to the manager of the club,” the 21-year-old left-back explained. “The manager said ‘you need to be here immediately’ so I went to join the training camp in Turkey.”
After playing in three friendlies, Sato was offered a four-year deal. “The coach, I think he liked the way I play,” he said.
Sato, talking to FourFourTwo from Croatia before last week’s loss to Hadjuk Split in Europa League qualifying, for which he was unable to play after his international clearance didn’t come through in time, said he has settled into life in the Iași, regarded as the cultural capital of Romania.
“It’s a really nice city and nice people as well,” he said. “They’re really welcoming. I’m happy here with the club, the coaches and the players – they’re all really nice.”
While it may only have been a month since he made the move, he’s instantly noticed the difference between Romanian and Filipino football.
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When I was 12 years old I said ‘I want to play in Italy’
“It is really different because every training there is a big game ahead of us and we have to win,” he said. “Every game there is a lot of pressure from the fans and from everyone.
“That is a bit different to the Philippines – we have games, we have the league, we have the Cup but not really with any pressure (and) I like to play with the pressure.”
As a young kid growing up in Japan, it was always Sato’s dream to play in Europe, revealing some episodes from his youth while watching football on TV.
“When I was 10 years old I said in front of the TV, ‘in the future I want to play for Barcelona’. Everyone has a big dream, I still have a big dream,” he recalls.
“Then when I was 12 years old I said ‘I want to play in Italy’.”
image:
images.cdn.fourfourtwo.com/sites/fourfourtwo.com/files/styles/inline-image/public/daisuke_sato_puma.jpg?itok=cBJD_Uv4During a signing session with Puma
Having grown up in Japan, Sato is familiar with the likes of Italian-based duo Keisuke Honda and Yuto Nagatomo, who play for AC Milan and Inter Milan respectively. And he admits to a tinge of jealousy watching them excel.
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“I always get jealous,” he admitted. “I don’t look up to them as an idol, I look up to them as a rival because when they play well and move to a big club I always get jealous. I want to do the same.”
Despite being raised in Japan, where he was a member of the Urawa Reds’ youth academy, he confessed he had little hesitation accepting an offer to move back to the Philippines to represent his mother’s homeland.
“Many people say that it might be a difficult decision but it wasn’t, it was really easy for me,” the defender said.
“I had an offer from the national team of the Philippines and I decided to move for my career because I always chase my dream to be the best football player.
“I wanted to make myself the best person too, not just the best player. So I thought it was going to be a good experience for me to go outside the country and see the world, not just stay in Japan.
“At the time I didn’t even speak English, so I wanted to learn to speak English also. It was really easy for me to make the decision.”
It’s proven to be a smart decision on his part, too, becoming a regular in Thomas Dooley’s Azkals side since making his debut in a friendly against Nepal in April 2014.
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“I feel very comfortable with my position,” he said. “I am really happy with the way we play. We’ve won big games against North Korea and we played quite well in the World Cup qualifiers, (so) I am really comfortable with everything in the national team.”
While they couldn’t carry on their bright start to World Cup qualifying, when they won their opening two matches against Bahrain and Yemen, they did finish a respectable third in their group behind Uzbekistan and North Korea, earning an automatic spot in the third round of qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Sato is determined to help the Azkals qualify for the Asian Cup for the first time in their history and is already dreaming of a match against Japan.
“It’s going to be a really good target for us to play in the Asian Cup,” he said. “It will give us more experience, so that’s our target. Personally I want to play against Japan, I am really excited to play against them.”
image:
images.cdn.fourfourtwo.com/sites/fourfourtwo.com/files/styles/inline-image/public/daisuke_sato_romania.jpg?itok=XbK9Mqq2Some artwork following his decision to join Romanian side CSMS Iasi
Southeast Asian players moving to Europe has been a rare thing of late.
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It’s going to be a really good target for us to play in the Asian Cup
Fandi Ahmad, the Singapore legend who spent two years with Dutch side Groningen in the mid-1980s, has been the most successful export in the last 30 years.
Elsewhere the likes of Teerasil Dangda, Bambang Pamungkas, Kurniwan Yulianto and Kurnia Sandy have all tried their luck with little success.
Sato, however, will be hoping his move is more successful, looking to follow in the footsteps of arguably the Philippines’ most famous player, Barcelona legend Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals for the Catalonians in the early part of the 1900s.
If he can have just a fraction of Alcantara’s success, he will have had one mighty career.
Read more at
www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/features/filipino-blazing-a-trail-through-european-football?page=0%2C2#m1DGdIozE4Pgwy2O.99