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Former Japan coach Takeshi Okada: China's potential lured me to the Super League
Hangzhou Greentown broke new ground when they unveiled the Japanese as their new coach for 2012 and he discussed his reasons for the unprecedented switch
Feb 7, 2012 5:19:00 AM
By Ben Somerford
New Hangzhou Greentown coach Takeshi Okada says China's potential and the revived domestic economy lured him to his new post in the Super League.
The former Japan national team boss was unveiled as Hangzhou boss in December and told The Beijing News why he opted to move to China.
"I think Chinese football has so much potential to improve. So I decided to come here," Okada said.
"Another reason is the Chinese economy improved so fast, I don't want to just see what the media reports, I would like to be in China to feel it for myself.
"Greentown is the first Chinese club which invited me, so I chose it."
Okada is a rare example of a Japanese moving to China given the two nations history but he said he hoped to use football as a tool to improve their relationship.
"I have prepared well mentally. There were wars among China, Korea and Japan before, but it was history," he said.
"How do we clear up these unhappy feelings? I come to China to take this club, my hope is using football as a tool to set up a better relationship between Chinese and Japanese fans."
The former Japan boss also identified Chinese football's problem as concentration.
He explained: "Chinese footballers have a pure feeling for football. But they can't keep attention for the whole 90 minutes match. Their match is always interrupted. When they lost the ball first, they would feel quite low."
As for his plans at Hangzhou in 2012, with Shanghai Shenhua spending big on well-known foreigners, Okada said he was content with his current squad.
"Greentown company has some funding problems so we don't consider to chase them [big-name foreigners]. Anyway we already have got some really good foreign players. They do quite well in CSL," he said.
The former Japan national team boss was unveiled as Hangzhou boss in December and told The Beijing News why he opted to move to China.
"I think Chinese football has so much potential to improve. So I decided to come here," Okada said.
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"Another reason is the Chinese economy improved so fast, I don't want to just see what the media reports, I would like to be in China to feel it for myself.
"Greentown is the first Chinese club which invited me, so I chose it."
Okada is a rare example of a Japanese moving to China given the two nations history but he said he hoped to use football as a tool to improve their relationship.
"I have prepared well mentally. There were wars among China, Korea and Japan before, but it was history," he said.
"How do we clear up these unhappy feelings? I come to China to take this club, my hope is using football as a tool to set up a better relationship between Chinese and Japanese fans."
The former Japan boss also identified Chinese football's problem as concentration.
He explained: "Chinese footballers have a pure feeling for football. But they can't keep attention for the whole 90 minutes match. Their match is always interrupted. When they lost the ball first, they would feel quite low."
As for his plans at Hangzhou in 2012, with Shanghai Shenhua spending big on well-known foreigners, Okada said he was content with his current squad.
"Greentown company has some funding problems so we don't consider to chase them [big-name foreigners]. Anyway we already have got some really good foreign players. They do quite well in CSL," he said.
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