{"id":359255,"date":"2024-01-11T19:09:24","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T20:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359255"},"modified":"2024-01-11T21:02:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T21:02:04","slug":"how-195cm-giant-landed-in-a-place-he-didnt-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359255","title":{"rendered":"How 195cm giant landed in a place he didn't know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hiroshi Ibusuki<\/a> zooms in from his Adelaide home, and once the technical difficulties \ufeffare out of the way, there's a big smile and greeting.<\/p>\n

It's been two years since he landed on Australia's shores.<\/p>\n

Prior to that, the 195cm man mountain didn't know Adelaide existed.<\/p>\n

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\ufeff"First of all I didn't know of the city of Adelaide in Australia, and then I got the offer and started researching 'where's Adelaide?'," he told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"And then I arrived here, it was more than I expected, everything is very nice and the people are very nice … the players, everybody is so good, and so nice."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It's a far cry from where he was born at Nagareyama\ufeff, Japan, an hour drive from Tokyo.<\/p>\n

But globetrotting isn't foreign for the 32-year-old.<\/p>\n

At 17, he made the biggest move of his career: Japan to Spain.<\/p>\n

"Everything was different because when I was in Japan I was a high school student, I had never cooked by myself, cleaned my clothes … suddenly I went to Spain and started living alone, everything was a new experience," he said.<\/p>\n

But the overwhelming nature of a new experience is what he thrived on – with some help.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIt was amazing, the first six months I had a translator, so every single game or meeting I had the translator for me from Japanese to English but after the six months they said no more translator, because if I had the translator I would never learn Spanish," he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"From then, it was a little bit difficult but also a good way to learn Spanish and then together with (meeting) the Spanish people, it was a good decision (to move)."<\/p>\n

And the best part? \ufeff<\/p>\n

"Everything, the life, football. For me, especially the people, Spanish people are amazing, they are very kind and always happy and I still have lot of friends I'm in contact with."<\/p>\n

During his time in Spain, Ibusuki started at Girona in second division (they're now second in La Liga<\/a>) before bouncing around on loan deals.<\/p>\n

Joining Sevilla in the summer of 2011 presented the biggest step forward in his career with his one La Liga appearance coming at the club: a feat he's proud of.<\/p>\n

"There was a lot of national players there, it was a very nice experience," he said.<\/p>\n

From there he moved to Belgium on loan with K.A.S. Eupen before his last Spanish hurrah at Valencia B.<\/p>\n

\"Welcome<\/p>\n

An eight-year stint back home in Japan followed.<\/p>\n

But he was also open to keep seeing the world.<\/p>\n

"My mentality is that I like to play overseas," he said. \ufeff<\/p>\n

He signed with Adelaide United<\/a> in January 2022, and scored a dramatic equaliser against Macarthur FC on debut. It was the perfect way to endear himself to a posse of Reds fans.<\/p>\n

"Hiroshi, from the little bit I've seen, he's only had the one training session with us and we've chucked him in tonight and he's got some quality," Adelaide coach Carl Veart said at the time.<\/p>\n

"His touch is excellent, he knows where the goal is, he'll only improve.<\/p>\n

"You don't play in Spain as long as he did unless you are technically a good footballer."<\/p>\n

When hearing the words fan favourite, though, Ibusuki is modest and turns all the praise towards those working around him.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI'm very happy to be at Adelaide, I'm not a special player, I need every kind of help from the coaches and the teammates so it's a lot of thanks for them," he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And about that debut goal? The modesty stays strong. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"It's a\ufeff little bit lucky, although I think a striker at times needs to be lucky," he said.<\/p>\n

"To get lucky means that I always have to work hard 100 per cent, doing my best in practice and then one day we can get lucky. It was a very good memory and amazing time for me."<\/p>\n

From the sights of Girona to the city of churches, Ibusuki's football career has \ufeffcertainly taken a change.<\/p>\n

He's no longer the 17-year-old in Spain, but now the 32-year-old who \ufeffhas banged in 17 goals since arriving at Adelaide can see just why people fall in love with the sights and surrounds of Australia.<\/p>\n

"I love the nature here, and also a lot of wineries, and I have two little kids and we love to go to the zoo.<\/p>\n

'There's a lot of zoos, a lot of parks. And then also the beaches, everything isn't far. It's not a big city and it's easy to go the beach, wineries or the zoo."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\ufeffNow at the latter part of his career, Ibusuki is able to pass on his wisdom to those with the world at their feet.<\/p>\n

The man that comes to mind in the Adelaide squad is Nestory Irankunda. \ufeff<\/p>\n

At 17, the exciting young star has signed with Bayern Munich and will join the European heavyweights in July.<\/p>\n

\"Arnold<\/p>\n

Ibusuki's advice is simple. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"Just enjoy everything, the life, and of course the football," he said.<\/p>\n

"We know he has a huge potential, his potential is amazing. Just do his best and always work hard, nothing more."<\/p>\n

The Reds will want every bit of quality from both players when they take on Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night as part of the A-League<\/a>'s Unite Round<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adelaide is currently eighth on the ladder, with Sydney ahead. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Following the conclusions fixtures at the stadium, the A-League will be hosting a free live site at Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park for the AFC Asian Cup match between the Socceroos<\/a> and India with a 10.30pm kick off. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hiroshi Ibusuki zooms in from his Adelaide home, and once the technical difficulties \ufeffare out of the way, there's a big smile and greeting. It's […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359255"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359255"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359263,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359255\/revisions\/359263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/359257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}