Vancouver goalkeeper Takaoka Yohei, who defeated the star team including Messi, meets the theoretical goalkeeper coach, who “feels growing little by little” to the final of the North and Central America Champions Cup, and ambitions for the Japanese national team
He advanced to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final (June 1), where he competes for the club champions of the North and Central America and the Caribbean.Vancouver White CapsGoalkeeper Takaoka Yohei (29) responded to an online interview with Japan Media on the morning of the 22nd in Japan time, and expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “The title I had been hoping for, both as a person and as a team, is right in front of me, so I have a little over a week so I'll prepare well and do my best to get a sense of results.”
Takaoka won the J1 League at Yokohama F. Marinos in 2022, and moved to Vancouver, Canada the following year, 2013, and played in Major League Soccer (MLS), which has attracted attention with the addition of star players in recent years. This season, his third year, he has been leading the league in the league and has supported the historic leap forward as a guardian, advancing to the finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
In the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals, Inter Miami, which includes forward Lionel Messi, forward Luis Suarez and midfielder Sergio Busquets, were defeated by two matches with a total score of 5-1. Takaoka expressed his response, saying, “There were so many top players who were just getting a momentary gap, so I couldn't let my mind go for even a moment, and I felt even more exhausted in my mind and body than usual. I was confident that I was able to win and progress to the finals. It was one of the best things about playing with these top players and following the process of winning.”
Takaoka played for three clubs in the J League, Yokohama FC, Sagan Tosu, and Yokohama FM, where he spent his days as an academy, and in 2012 he won the J1 League. Over the past two and a half years, he has been exposed to different styles of soccer in Canada, and has also felt that he has grown.
“The style is different from Japan, and Japan can be said to possess the ball, techniques, and techniques, but of course there are players like this, and there are also teams who play in that style, but there are many teams who come straight to the goal. There are a lot of players who have physical, power, and speed, especially before the goal, so that's the difference. When I was in Japan, when I was thinking about how I would grow from now on, I thought I had to have the skills to deal with opponents who respond with power, speed, and physicality, so I think I've expanded my range as a goalkeeper a little bit by playing against those players and those teams.”
The most important thing was his encounter with goalkeeper coach Yousef Daha. The coach, currently 52 years old, is a former professional athlete who participated in the 1988 Seoul Olympics as Morocco's generational goalkeeper. After retiring from active duty, he moved to Canada, where he coached Montreal Impact, Ottawa Fury and Vancouver Whitecaps, and was also a theoretical leader who was involved in the creation of the goalkeeper training system at the Canadian National High Performance Centre.
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“His method has solid logic, and the positioning is especially clear. At first, I was like, 'What does this mean?', but as I did it, I've accumulated small success experiences and have now come to this day. In that sense, I think it's a little different from when I was in Japan in terms of playing style and play choice. That's not the mainstream, and the goalkeeper coach's style is a special style, but there are also some world-class goalkeepers who do it, and I've grown myself by meeting him. I'm not only taught me about goalkeeping techniques, but also mental aspects, so I think it's a good thing that I came to meet him.”
Building a new goalkeeper style in a foreign country is not an easy task, but Takaoka's belief is to “try it first.” “We'll decide if we're hooked or not, whether it suits us or not, but we tried it and got a good feeling, and as we continued, we saw a lot of good phenomena that would turn into my own style, so I continued,” he said. “He explained things not only on the pitch, but also meetings and video, and I was able to understand them myself, and although the other goalkeepers are competing with each other, they supported me so I was able to understand them quickly, and not only did I have the strength to do, but the support of those around me was great as well as the support of those around me.”
This is how the CONCACAF Champions Cup finals come to mind. Takaoka is enthusiastic, saying, “The final is a one-shot game, so each play is directly linked to the results. As a goalkeeper, I want to control various things, such as game developments, and lead the team in a good way. I think there will be several decisive scenes in each game, so I want to do my best in those places.”
Furthermore, the club, which has won the Canadian Cup three times in a row, has not had the experience of winning titles beyond the US, so this is a historic final. “One of my goals to come to this team was to win a title, and since we've never won a club before, it's a big challenge. I want to pursue visible results, and winning the title is an important process for growing both as an individual and as a club. I don't know how long I will be, but I wanted to contribute to the team during my time as a member of the team. I want to prepare the best of my ability because I have the opportunity right in front of me,” he said.
Beyond that, he is also looking to see his success with the Japanese national team, which he has never had a chance to call up before. “As a soccer player, since I'm a Japanese player, it's only natural that I aim to become the Japanese national team. I feel like I'm slowly growing as a goalkeeper,” Takaoka said, asserting that he is “confident” in his playing level at the Japanese national team. “The Japanese national team is a group that is aiming to win the World Cup, but I want to contribute to that, and I won't be ashamed of joining them. There are other great goalkeepers, so it's not an easy journey, but I want to do my job,” he said, “They are prepared to continue making a steady appeal.
(Interview and text by Takeuchi Tatsuya)
