This season, a guardian from the academy has been promoted to the top team. He won the Best Goalkeeper Award at the 2023 AFC U17 Asian Cup. A young talent who shows exceptional strength in saving and high balls. Currently, Wataru GOTO is aiming for the world as part of the U-19 Japan national team. We asked him about his current feelings and his enthusiasm for challenging the professional stage.
——How did you feel when you heard about the promotion to the top league?
When I compared my abilities with the seniors in the top team, I didn’t have absolute certainty that I could definitely make it, so I was surprised when I first received the offer to be promoted to the top team.
——Goto started his career in the academy at FC Tokyo U-15 Fukagawa. When did you start to become aware of moving up to the top team?
When I was in the first year of junior high school, I hardly got involved in matches at all, and even when I moved up to U-18 in my third year, I wasn't that conscious of it. I specifically started wanting to move up after I began participating in top team training sessions with the U-18 team.
——Are you a humble person?
I'm not the type to be endlessly confident and aggressive like the so-called "ora ora" style. I've focused on pursuing the abilities I have and concentrating on what I can do, so I haven't really thought much about whether my level is high or low. I believe that consistently doing the training to play in the next match and delivering results when called up to the national team has led to where I am now.
In the 2023 AFC U17 Asian Cup, he contributed to the victory with many big saves and received the Best Goalkeeper Award of the tournament with 2 goals conceded in 5 matches. Did it boost your confidence?
I was happy to receive the award and gained a bit of confidence, but when I think about the Asian Cup specifically, I didn’t feel I played well enough to fully deserve it. Personally, I performed better at the FIFA U-17 World Cup and felt more confident in my abilities there.
——What are your strengths?
I am good at saving shots and dealing with high balls. I can win when a high ball comes.
——How do you want to strengthen your physicality?
My weight is still light, so one thing I need to do is increase it more. I have to make both my upper and lower body a bit thicker to be able to compete, so I am thinking about how to do strength training. I need to start by increasing my weight and building a thicker body, otherwise nothing will follow after that, so that is my first priority. I also want to improve my agility, but in terms of priority, that will be the next focus. Yuji MATSUBARA, the physical coach who was in charge of the top team, is now responsible for the U-18 team starting this year, so I think I will continue with the current approach.
——The top team has many senior players, including Taishi Brandon NOZAWA, who has been selected for the Japan national team and the U-23 Japan national team for the Paris Olympics, making it a position with a deep player pool.
I knew that the top team has a deep player pool, and I have been thinking about how much I can do once I join by participating in practice. Competition is tough wherever you go, so I am prepared for that.
—— How do you envision your daily life with the top team from now on?
I still feel that I have many areas lacking, including skills and mentality, but even so, I want to play in matches from my first year. I’m looking forward to it, or rather, I’m eager to get started. I don’t know if I’ll be able to play in matches during my first year, but I want to grow day by day. Building trust is also necessary, and it might be difficult, but first, I want to aim for a starting spot in the opening match.
——Please tell us the differences you feel between the academy and training with the top team.
First of all, the top players have extremely high basic skills, including catching, passing, and saving, and the finer details such as positioning are also of high quality, making it difficult for any player to score easily. In comparison, I tend to make simple technical mistakes and concede shots more frequently, and I feel there is a gap there.
——While there is a clear gap, do you feel it’s not so wide that it can’t be closed?
Certainly, each difference may be small, but there are many slight gaps and deficiencies, and I feel there is a difference in overall ability. I want to enter top-level training and steadily improve each of my skills, so I intend to fully commit to the camp from the very beginning.
The key point to overturn the gap with the seniors.
If I am not able to play in matches, I believe the only option is to continuously show what I can do in practice. Feeling down is pointless, and I think I won’t earn trust unless I have the mindset to challenge my seniors. So, including my demeanor, I must approach everything with a strong spirit.
——Such reliability was likely required even in international tournaments for the national team.
Regarding my mentality at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the enjoyment outweighed everything, and I didn’t feel nervous in a good way. The atmosphere at the venue and the exhilaration I felt when hearing the national anthem and thinking, "Let’s do this!" was incredible.
——Who is a player that catches your attention in the entire soccer world, including the national team?
He is Araki from Gamba Osaka Youth. He is a goalkeeper one year younger than me and is also competing for a position in the U-19 Japan national team. He can reliably stop shots and participate in build-up play. He is also capable of handling breakaways (responses when an opposing player breaks behind the defensive line), so I inevitably compare myself to him. I have a strong desire not to lose to someone younger, so he is a player I am quite conscious of.
——Which players do you pay attention to in Tokyo?
Masataka KOBAYASHI and I played together for two years in the U-18 team, and we have always been rivals competing for the same position. Since we were also both selected for the U-19 Japan national team, I definitely don’t want to lose to him.
——Lastly, how would you like fans and supporters to call you?
Whether you call me "Gotou" or "Wataru"... within the team, "Wata" or "Wataru" are more common. I’m happy to be called either way, but first, I hope people will remember my name. When I get to play matches from my first year, I want to make sure I can fully show my performance, so I appreciate everyone’s support.
♢Wataru GOTO Profile
Date of Birth: May 8, 2006
Height/Weight: 192cm/83kg
Place of Origin: Chiba Prefecture
Career: FC Tokyo U-15 Fukagawa → FC Tokyo U-18
Representative history: U-16 Japan national team, U-17 Japan national team, U-18 Japan national team, U-19 Japan national team
Text by Masaru Goto (Freelance Writer)
