There’s nothing more legendary than seeing something becoming a worldwide attraction, the property of everyone, globally. J. League is trying to achieve that, but to do so, you need a global fanbase. And it’s there, although its numbers can certainly rise. In this series of pieces – which will all fall under the label “J. League Worldwide”, we’re trying to tell the personal and professional stories of Japanese football fans all over the world.
Before introducing the eleventh instalment of the series, I want to remind the efforts of Stuart Smith in starting this column back in 2017. Nineteen episodes are done, and in the last one – published at the beginning of 2024 – we talked with Jonatan about his love for the Japanese football world.
And if you can read here his interview with us, for Episode number 20, we move back to Spain – a country that left a major impact on Japan and J.League in the last decade. If you look at the all-time count of foreign players in J1, Spain sits now easily in the Top 10. Barcelona especially were well-connected with the Japanese championship, given also the Rakuten links with Vissel Kobe.
Sergio Magda was just a fan in Barcelona following his beloved team, until one of his idols move to Kansai and pushed him to watch a couple of games. That’s where the interest towards J.League started and grew by the time went by.
a) Where are you from and when did you first start following the J. League?
I’m from Barcelona, and I have to say that my love for the J.League began when my daughter couldn’t sleep that much. It was six years ago, and I remember how I had to wake up to put her to sleep.
In those times, Andrés Iniesta just left Barcelona to join Vissel Kobe and he was already moving the first steps in Japan at the time. I was entertained by those first moments in Kobe, and I quickly realised the passion with which football is lived there.
b) Do you have a favourite team or player?
When I first connected with the J.League, naturally the link with Iniesta felt natural, and I sympathized immediately for Vissel Kobe because of the no. 8’s presence. In the end, I’m a Barcelona fan, so I was drawn towards them. But nowadays in Japan I really like Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and in general I like to watch the games without prioritising any team.
If I have to mention a player, I’d go for Yoshinori Muto – he’s a player that I liked a lot since he return to Japan from his European adventures. In 2024, he even won the MVP Award (author’s note – he did it also for the “Regista Awards”), and in my opinion it was a deserved one – so as he was the one who carried the team on his back.
c) We’re used to seeing a lot of coverage around football here in Europe or South America. A tendency growing as well in North America and Asia. How do you keep up with the news regarding the league?
Being in Europe, the information about the league comes to me via the internet and podcasts… but it is true that I have contact with friends who live in Japan, and journalists who work for local sports newspapers.
I’m lucky enough to have those contacts, so that I can often ask them questions that I may have and they help me a lot in getting a better picture of the whole movement. I would like to highlight a podcast in Spanish like “Balón de Japón” (author’s note – we did talk with Antonio a couple of years ago and you can find his interview here).
d) Have you ever been to Japan for some matches? If so, how was the impact? And if not, which match and which aspect are you longing for the most?
I have never been to Japan, and it’s a shame because I would love to be able to experience a match with the fans cheering all the way through the game.
e) From your point of view, how do you think the J. League has been perceived in your own country? And there’s a space to improve the image of the league around the world, just like they’re trying to do?
I don’t think the J.League in Spain has a major following – if there’s any followers, it’s a small percentage. We’ve been able to watch some games through the option of seeing them via the J.League International’s channel on YouTube – and that’s very good.
The real pity is that we’re talking of just 3-4 games – it would be good to have the chance of seeing all of them. I think even DAZN Spain could take the rights and could broadcast the matches, although I understand that with such a small following it might be difficult to invest.
We want to thank Sergio for the time he’s given us. It’s been nice to talk with him and see how J.League is gaining more traction in Spain thanks to the players who came to Japan in the last years.
You can find him on Twitter @SergioMagda and on Discord too. Episode 21 will come soon, so stay tuned!
[…] if you can read here his interview with us, for Episode number 21, we move to somewhere a bit more exotic – […]