J. League has turned into a league with more than three decades of history, and many players are actually tied to the championship. It might be because J. League represented a new starting point in their careers or maybe they’ve actually grown into Japanese football, creating their own space and boosting their profile through a stint in the land of the Rising Sun.
“When We Were J. Leaguers” is a column of J. League Regista, where we try to recollect with former J. League players their memories about Japan, their careers and the moment they spent in the championship. Behind the decision of coming to Japan there are wishes, ambitions and goals which we can’t imagine: talking about their stories is a way understand them better, in a more complete context.
We had just two episodes back in 2020, and the last one featured Stipe Plazibat, who played for FC Gifu and V-Varen Nagasaki in the J2. And we move today to South America, although we stay with a player who featured in the second division: Joaquín Larrivey experienced two seasons with JEF United Chiba in 2017 and 2018, scoring 30 goals in the league and bringing JEF closer to J1.
After Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain, UAE and Japan, today he’s playing in Chile with Deportes Concepción, but Joaquín Larrivey didn’t forget his adventure in Japan and the ties he created with Chiba during his experience. Enjoy the chat with the Argentinian striker!
Konnichi-wa, Joaquin. You played for important clubs between Europe, North & South America. What pushed you back in 2017 to join JEF United Chiba?
I just got married to my wife. We had some chances of going back to Europe and we could have stayed as well in the UAE, but in the end, we decided together that Japan would have been a wonderful life-experience. Of course I had a very solid salary in the UAE, but Japan wasn’t far away from it and, once everything was laid out on the table, I shared with my wife the desire of going to Japan.
We were not wrong – if it hasn’t been the best experience I had in my career, it’s pretty close to it.
First impact with Japan and specifically to Chiba? In the end, many Westerners tend to think about Tokyo when it comes down to Japan, but Chiba isn’t far away from it.
The first year, my wife was pregnant, but nonetheless we had the chance to travel around and get to know the city. Chiba is pretty big, we saw several baseball matches and we went often to Disneyland (in Tokyo). It was unbelievably comfy, because we took the bike, park near the metro station and then look around Tokyo for the day.
I was starstruck by Chiba and everytime we remember those times, we feel an incredible emotion, because the experience was so good. My daughter was born there; therefore, we have a very close connection to the city. When I think about Japan, I have only good memories.
JEF United Chiba was (and still is) a dormient giant, waiting to come back to J1. How was the impact with Japan as a footballing nation, after years of Europe and South America?
We were very impressed, because the fans were so passionate and they were singing Spanish songs as well. A very heated support, but very respectful as well. It was wonderful to go to the stadium with the family, and we were strongly supported also on away games. And the whole environment was very professional: my teammates were very eager to learn from the South American players.
It’s incredible how they were so open to learn from me, but in the end, I was the one learning a lot from them, especially about the working culture and the love they have for the sport.
First year in J2 and immediately 19 goals in 38 matches, one per every two games. One hat-trick, five braces (including the one against Nagoya Grampus in the play-off semifinals. A hard-fought game, with some tough decisions by the referee. What do you remember from that year?
First year I’ve scored 21 goals (including the play-offs) and it was spectacular. We had a comeback in the second part of the season, winning 6-7 games in a row and reaching the play-offs. The support was amazing and it was important even to reach that result.
In your second year, you scored 11 goals and you were the captain of JEF United Chiba. Today you’re the Argentinian player with the most games in pro-Japanese football. How come to leave Japan after the second year?
In the second year, I had a problem with my knee, which didn’t let me perform at my best. I mean, 11 goals were a solid score, but I hoped to repeat what I did in the first year. JEF United Chiba decided to not continue together and I was indeed contacted by other Japanese clubs, but my wife was expecting our second child and we thought it was better to come closer to home; that’s why we left in the end.
I had the chance of playing with Cerro Porteño in Paraguay and reaching the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals. It’s clear it was a tough decision to take, because in Japan we had a wonderful time. But it’s also true that my family comes first and so the professional decision was to leave also because of that.
Of course, it was an honor being the captain of such an important club in Japan. My teammates and the fans loved me, I was very respected. Unfortunately, the second year wasn’t a great year. I’m sorry I didn’t know about this data – I would have liked to stay a couple of more years, but family has the priority.
When you remember those two years, was there a player (team-mate or opponent) or a situation that stuck with you as the way Japanese people lived football?
There were a lot of them, actually. Every time I see a Japanese player in Europe, I’m always very impressed. I remember I played a few times against Daizen Maeda when he was at Matsumoto Yamaga, and now he’s thriving in Europe with Celtic Glasgow. He left me a good impression. There are players who leap directly from J2 to Europe, and that proves that J.League is always growing.
The last question I usually ask to former J.League players is: would you recommend such an experience to a young player or another player from Argentina?
To every one I always say the same thing: give it a go, because it was one of the best experiences I ever had in my career, both on and off the pitch. If there’s a chance, try it without a doubt, because I feel Japan is a spectacular nation, both from a professional and a personal point of view.
And that’s it! I wanna thank Joaquín Larrivey for the time he gave us and you can see him still in action: after a couple of years in Italy, he’s back to South America from a couple of years, still thriving in the second Chilean division. Hopefully we’ll see more Argentinians thriving the J.League – but meanwhile let’s hope that the next episode of this column won’t take us another five years…
