Naturalized Japanese Citizen Scores Winning Soccer Goal
Japan’s soccer team was crowned the winner of the 2011 Asia Cup after their Saturday night victory over Australia. The player who scored the winning goal was Tadanari Lee, a Japanese citizen of Korean ancestry:
Lee, a late substitute, volleyed in a cross from Yuto Nagatomo 19 minutes into extra time to give the Samurai Blue a hard-fought 1-0 win over Australia in the AFC Asian Cup final at Doha’s Khalifa Stadium. The victory gave Japan its fourth Asian title, the most of any country in the continental championship.
“This feels great,” said Lee, a striker with J.League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. “I didn’t get to play much, but I always believed I would get a chance. I kept telling myself, ‘I’ll be the hero.’ I’m just so grateful to be on this pitch today.”
Some more info from the NYT:
Lee played, once, for South Korea at the under-20 level. But he received his Japanese passport in 2007, joined Hiroshima in 2009 and is as clear about his status as he was when his chance came during extra time in the final in Doha. “When the ball came, I just thought I needed to smash it,” he said in the Khalifa Stadium. “I am proud of this game. I’m not Korean, I’m not Japanese, I’m a footballer.”
And from Gulf-News:
“I have grown up in the Japanese culture and I love both countries — Korea and Japan. I am very glad to score this goal for Japan,” said Lee who is a fourth generation Korean-Japanese.
(The Gulf News article uses the confusing term “Korean-Japanese” to describe all Zainichi soccer players, including two non-Japanese citizens who play for the DPRK team.)
Read more about Lee at Wikipedia.
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