Sydney FC midfielder Hirofumi Moriyasu has been given a chance and the softly spoken 25-year-old has taken it with both hands.
Sydney FC midfielder Hirofumi Moriyasu has been given a chance and the softly spoken 25-year-old has taken it with both hands.
After almost giving the game away before booking a one-way ticket to Australia to give his dream of playing football professionally overseas one last shot, ‘Hiro- signed on with defending Hyundai A-League Champions Sydney FC and the American born player has not looked back.
Moriyasu, who was playing for APIA Leichardt in the NSW Premier League before joining Sydney FC, has made three appearances off the bench for the Sky Blues and it-s been his aggression, hard running and physicality that have left a lasting impression.
“It-s been a lot different to the State League. The level of the State League and A-League is very different. The speed, it-s just a lot stronger so I have to make decisions much quicker but it-s really good fun.” Moriyasu said.
“In Japan it-s more technical and much different but over here it-s very strong and fast so I-m going to fully adjust to it hopefully soon.”
Moriyasu lifted himself to cult hero status with the APIA fans almost overnight after a string of stunning performances and the well mannered midfielder has applied his hard working ethos to his work at Sydney FC.
Interestingly though, Moriyasu says he isn-t renowned for his aggression.
“The first two games I was only playing for a short amount of time and I was trying change the game. We were down and I was trying to change the match but that is difficult but we kept pushing hard,” he said.
“I-m not a very big and strong kind of player. We want to play simple soccer, pass the ball around and get into position to shoot but you have to be aggressive sometimes and we were down by two goals on Saturday night so you have to be aggressive to get the goals.”
Moriyasu and the Sky Blues now have the unenviable task of travelling to Wellington to take on the Phoenix at Westpac Stadium, a venue the Kiwi side currently boast a 21-game unbeaten run.
“I heard Wellington haven-t lost a game in a couple of months or even maybe a year there so I hope we play well and break that record and we get the win and the three points,” Moriyasu said.
