“WE WANT MESSI”
“This is not a derby match like I’m used to,” Lukas Podolski tells FourFourTwo, a day after playing alongside fellow World Cup winners Andres Iniesta and David Villa for Vissel Kobe against Cerezo Osaka in the J1 League. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan’s sixth-biggest city. Cerezo, which means ‘cherry’, are from the third-largest, 20 miles away. “I have played in derbies in Germany for Cologne and Bayern Munich, in London for Arsenal, and in Istanbul for Galatasaray. Milan, too. Some of the world’s greatest derbies, all full of tension. Here? The Japanese don’t like confrontation.”
“Outside of sport, that can be a good thing,” continues Podolski. “But for a football match, it’s all too respectful. I respect what people in Japan are like, but I prefer the emotion and edge that come with other derbies. This is my character – I’m used to fighting for everything. I grew up like this and my whole career has been a fight. We’ve always been desperate for the three points, even when you travel to Kazakhstan with Germany. You know it’s going to be hard and that you have to fight.”
Podolski, whose contract is up at the end of 2019, has lived in Kobe for nearly three years and doesn’t regret the move. “It’s a nice-sized city to be in – not like the madness of Tokyo – and there is the stadium, fans, people, food...” says the 34-year-old, who has branched out into owning several kebab shops and an ice cream parlour. Podolski didn’t join Vissel for glory. The club haven’t won anything. Ever.
Starting out as a semi-professional outfit in 1966, they moved to Kobe only in 1995, joining the newly professional J.League’s second tier.
