Japanese MUZA FC striker Jindo dreams big

MUKWIMA CHILALA writes

JAPANESE striker Jindo Morishita who plays for Mazabuka-based super league MUZA FC says he has dreams of playing in his country’s national team.
Morishita, who described Zambia’s super league as very competitive, physical and challenging, said the group had many talented players.
“I hope this will help enhance my chances of breaking through into the Japan national team,” said Morishita.
Morishita told the Sun Sports in an interview that he always wanted to be one of pioneers from Japan in Zambian and African football at large.
He said that he got attracted to Zambian football through his host family in Zambia, Pastor Elemon Sakala who is president of a non- governmental organization (NGO) called Victorious Life which owns the soccer academy.
He said when he arrived in Zambia in 2018 he wanted to join one of Zambia’s super league teams having already trained with National Assembly and NAPSA.
But it was newly promoted MUZA FC who seized the moment by luring the striker to Mazabuka for a season.
The confident striker said that acclimatizing to life in the small urban town of Mazabuka was not difficult because of his experience of having stayed out of his home country from a tender age.
“I’ve learnt a lot of lessons in Mazabuka especially language, Ndilambaula Jitonga ashonto shonto na chinyanja ninapunzila ku Mazabuka ,and I have leant on how to adapt to a new environment because I started playing football in Netherlands and I also played in Indonesia,’
“I was born in Japan but moved to the Netherlands at a tender age to play football that’s why I’m able to speak some good English,” he said
Morishita said that making his debut for MUZA in a game against Power Dynamos was one of the greatest moments of his career because of the loud cheers he received from the packed Nakambala Stadium.
“I have played two games for MUZA this season, the first games will forever be memorable because the people kept on cheering me up with some calling me ‘choncholi’, Jackie Chan and so on, ‘’
He said people in Mazabuka had now gotten used to him that even when he was on the bench some soccer fans would protest.
Morishita further said that he hoped to return to Zambia after he done with his university studies as he had only been allowed to be out of school for this year.
He said that he was returning to his home country Japan at the end of this season in May to go and complete his education.
He said he has had a memorable time in Zambia where he made numerous friends from clubs such as ZESCO United and Nakambala United, singling out MUZA player Jopha Mulenga as his close friend.
Morishita is the second Japanese player plying their trade in the Zambian Super league after his compatriot Kosuke Nakamachi joined champions ZESCO United in a highly publicized transfer during the January transfer period.