"It seems like yesterday when I set foot in Hangzhou five years ago. It's sad to see how the years have flown by." Takeshi Okada opened with this as a witness to the signing of Zhejiang FC's new youth training cooperation agreement: "The changes in Zhejiang FC have dazzled me." Yesterday afternoon, the former Zhejiang team coach, now FC investors arrived in Hangzhou Zhongtai base, hand in hand with Zhejiang FC to open a new chapter of cooperation. The two sides will deepen soccer-specific training, strengthen physical fitness and goalkeeping skills, and expand the scope of youth training, involving first-team youth players.
At the signing ceremony, players Gao Di and Sun Zheng Ao visited their mentor Takeshi Okada and reminisced about the past. Ten years ago, Takeshi Okada helped Gaudi's heroic performance in the backfield of the goal become a "Chinese Super League classic". Gaudi said emotionally: "Time flies, ten years have passed. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Coach Takeshi Okada for his cultivation and trust."
Takeshi Okada is delighted to be back at the Zhongtai base and is pleased with the metamorphosis of Zhejiang FC. "Over the past five years, I have had frequent exchanges with Mr. Jiao (General Manager Jiao Fengbo). He promised to return the club to the Chinese Super League back then, and now his wish has come true; then he proposed to hit the Asian Champions League, and surprisingly it has been realized again. I was both pleased and surprised to see the first team do so well. The facilities at the base have also been revitalized and the stadium has been upgraded significantly.
Speaking about the base's youth training players, Takeshi Okada said, "Technically, they are on par with Japanese players of the same age group." This statement leads to his insights on the development of young players. On Saturday, the 2nd China Youth Football League 2023 (U17 group) came to a close, with Zhejiang Greentown U17 Green Team defeating Shanghai Shenhua U17 Team 1-0 to repeat as national champions. In addition, Zhejiang Greentown U19 team won the second place, U13 team won the third place, and U17 Blue team also won the third place.
Takeshi Okada acknowledged the achievements of Zhejiang FC's youth training, but emphasized that achievements are not everything: "Behind the achievements are the concepts and philosophies. If the young players are only aiming to win the championship, they can easily bring in taller players. However, after growing up, can they still maintain their advantage? The uniqueness of Zhejiang FC lies in its soccer concept and philosophy. They pursue not only winning, but also the growth of young people.
In Takeshi Okada's opinion, "systematization" is the key to Japan's soccer leadership: "Japanese soccer in recent years has patiently improved the level of the country's soccer in four dimensions: coach training, youth training, popularization of the soccer population, and the promotion of the elite level. In contrast, China is more concerned with elite training. If Zhejiang Football Club can inspire and influence Chinese soccer, it will make a huge difference. Japan's population is only one-tenth of China's, but it has 65 professional clubs. If more clubs emerge in Zhejiang, the level of soccer will be turned upside down.
Takeshi Okada added: "If China had more clubs like Zhejiang FC, change would be just around the corner. Zhejiang has a large population and a developed economy, but FC is the only representative of the Chinese Super League. If Zhejiang had more clubs, the level of soccer would change drastically."
In recent years, Zhejiang FC general manager Jiao Fengbo often go to Japan with the ladder team to play soccer, personally feel the gap, determined to catch up. Therefore, Zhejiang FC and Japan Youth Training signed a contract for the fifth time. Jiao Fengbo said: "The cooperation has lasted for more than ten years and will be gradually upgraded in the future. Inviting foreign coaches, Chinese soccer will take off. Soccer level improvement needs to be systematized, there is no shortcut. Therefore, we cooperate with Japan.
We not only want to introduce, but also out of the country. Jiao Fengbo revealed that more young players will participate in Japanese matches in the future and one or two adult players will be sent to Japan for further study at the end of the year. He said: "In the past, we used to learn from Brazil and Europe, but now we use Japan as a benchmark. Learning from Japan is enough. The club should look at the international scene and make progress across the board, from players to staff."
