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Mitsuru Maruoka plays for Nusantara in the Indonesian First League (provided by himself)
Photo from provided photo
The Japanese national team, aiming to win the Asian Cup for the fifth time in three tournaments, will face the Indonesian national team in the final match of the first round on the 24th. What kind of team will Korean coach Shin Tae-yong (53) lead? Mitsuru Maruoka (28), a midfielder who played for German giants Dortmund and currently plays for Nusantara in the Indonesian first division, gave an interview to Sponichi and spoke about the current situation and his prospects for the game against Japan.
I have been looking for a job in Indonesia for about a year and a half. Maruoka also feels first hand how big the football fever is in the area. The stands seem to be quite full, not only at senior national team games, but also at U-18 games, and he emphasizes: “I think there is a lot of attention.”
The level seems to be increasing every year as the popularity increases. Until now, Thailand has been at the top of the Southeast Asian power chain, followed by Malaysia and Vietnam, but he analyzes that “Indonesia is now on its way there.”
Maruoka cites two main reasons for this progress. The first is to invite many foreign leaders. Nusantara, which Maruoka belongs to, was also coached by a Brazilian last season and a Portuguese this season. The same applies to other teams and he points out that “the games have become more tactical as a result. The biggest difference is that our training content has improved dramatically.”
The second is the expansion of the number of foreigners. Until last season, there was only “Asia 1” in the first division, but this season it was changed to “5 plus ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) 1”. As a result, each team can now field up to six foreign players, and the game content has changed from “Southeast Asian football, which is open from the first half” to “an increase in the number of teams that can play the game after international ones.” Standards.” I mentioned the effect.
After four tournaments, this is the Indonesian national team’s fifth appearance at the Asian Cup. The team is led by Korean coach Shin Tae-ryong (photo, Reuters). Since his appointment in December 2019, he has gradually strengthened the team. According to one of Maruoka’s former colleagues, the training content is quite intense: “The second training is the norm, and we do a lot of muscle training and physical training,” and when it comes to football, “he defends well and counters.”
Regarding the key players for the game against Japan, Maruoka mentioned two foreign players: captain DF Asnaoui (24, independent) and DF Arhan (22, Suwon), who played for Tokyo V until last season.
“These two paved the way for transfers abroad. If we have more such players in the future, the national team will be even stronger,” he said, expressing his hopes for the game against Japan. “Japan will definitely do it.” However, I believe that we cannot lose to Japan because of their typical Southeast Asian physicality and the way we approach the ball. If we defend well and exploit counterattacks and “I think we will have a good chance from set pieces.” Ta.
◇Mitsuru Maruoka Born on January 6, 1996 (Heisei 8), 28 years old, from Tokushima City. After graduating from junior high school, he joined Cerezo Osaka U-18, and immediately after his performance on the 2013 European tour was recognized and he was promoted to the top team, he moved to German first division club Dortmund on loan in January 2014. She made her top-flight debut in September of the same year. He returned to Cebu Osaka in 2016, then moved to J2 Nagasaki and J2 Yamaguchi on loan before moving to Thai first division club BG Pathum in July 2021. From 2022 he played for the South Korean second division club Gimpo and moved to the Indonesian first division club Nusantara in July of the same year. 1 meter 73, 64 kg. Dominant foot is correct.
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