3 Spanish players behind the success of the Japanese league

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Three important Spanish soccer players arrived this year to the Japanese league

Japan’s league, made up by 18 clubs, begins to be in the spotlight. It is not a secret that this league is growing faster than other consolidated leagues such as the Major League Soccer (MLS), China Super League or Qatar. A key factor for this is the arrival in 2018 of Andrés Iniesta, Fernando Torres and more recently David Villa, two of whom play in the same team, Vissel Kobe.

Leer en español: Jugadores españoles: el éxito de la liga japonesa

For many, they are the main exponents of a financial and sports revolution that runs through this event, which is projected by an increasingly notable attendance at stadiums and attractive television broadcast contracts.

An exhaustive investigation of Besoccer.com ensures that the J-League has gradually increased attendance in the last five years. For 2017, the figure that was handled on average was 19 thousand spectators per game. At the same time, total revenues were 26,767 million yen that year, double the amount received in 2016.

Now, there are two teams that plan to grow those numbers: Vissel Kobe and Sagan Tosu. The first team mentioned surprised everyone by staying with veteran star Andres Iniesta, who preferred accepting the challenge before playing in FC Barcelona, a team where he had already won everything.

Bessocer reported that almost in unison, another Spaniard, in this case, Fernando 'El Niño' Torres rejected the possibility of continuing at the Spanish team Atlético de Madrid, deciding to firm a contract in the J-League. He signed with Sagan Tosu.

Television rights: high salaries

The same article highlights that the key point has been the online retransmission platform, known as DAZN, and in parallel, the sale of television rights to local channels. The first contributed to the J-League 5 thousand 500 million yen (equivalent to 42.3 million euros in 2017) and in the framework of a contract signed to 2026 worth 2 billion dollars: 1 thousand 719 million of euros.

Therefore, the leaders of the J-League hope that with the presence of three world champions (with Spain in South Africa 2010) these numbers rise almost automatically. Of course, the first objective is to keep these three figures and incorporate another one of the same profile (which will play on the next season, that starts in February and that would be David Villa) and be able to pay them enough to attract them. Iniesta earns almost 25 million euros per year, which according to Bessocer is a record salary in Japan.

Rakuten’s owner, Hiroshi Mikitani, was the one who started the plan on bringing Iniesta to Japan. In fact, he took him to Japan in his private jet. Advertisements, social networks, marketing, all this brings the presence of former Barcelona in the country.

Bessocer culminates adding that Torres, Iniesta and now Villa, must go beyond the economic. There are other objectives in the J-League as an international projection, promoting discipline among young people and working to turn Japan IGNORE INTO a world power of this popular sport. They have started well, or at least, they seem to be on the right track.

Maybe you want to read: "I need help, I need something because if not, I do not get out of this situation": Andrés Iniesta

Villa’s arrival

20 minutos.es highlights the arrival of David Villa to Japan after leaving New York City FC after four seasons. With New York City he scored 80 goals in 124 games played with the team.

The way in which the former Barcelona striker announced his departure from Major League Soccer (MLS) was also newsworthy, as he did not use an official statement. On the contrary, 'El Guaje' published a video with plays of his career and in which about the end he announced that he will meet six years later with Andrés Iniesta, his friend and former teammate at FC Barcelona between 2010 and 2013. Both Villa and Iniesta, are two referents of Spain’s National Team.

The response was immediate and Iniesta, who is already the star of Vissel Kobe, welcomed Villa, through a post in his social media showing a photo in which he poses with the striker.

"Welcome to @vissel_kobe, Guaje, happy to return to share clothes with you," Iniesta wrote on social networks. "When the possibility of coming to Japan came up, we talked on the phone and Andrés gave me many positive things about the team and about that have been his life in Japan," explained Villa in statements replicated by Mundo Deportivo.

Excitement between the first match 

El Español recalls that Vissel Kobe of Iniesta and Sagan Tosu de Torres played each other for the first time on August 22 in the 16th finals of the Emperor's Cup of Japan, but on that occasion, neither of them was a starter and Sogu won easily 3-0.

A month later, they faced each other again, but in the J-League and with both players as starters, even though Torres was substituted in the 71st division, and neither of them stood out, despite the expectation that was generated. The German Lukas Podolski was the highlight of the commitment that culminated in a draw.

The 0-0 at that time allowed Vissel Kobe to be ranked 12th in the championship match while Sagan occupied the 15th box, after the penultimate date of the 2018 edition of the J-League. Another man of soccer, with an international tour, as the Spanish coach Juan Manuel Lillo, with experience as an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli and in the Colombian League, is the coach of Vissel Kobe and another of the foreign references that make the league more attractive, the same media ended.

LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano

Translated from: 'Jugadores españoles: el éxito de la liga japonesa'