“The 13th Football Conference,” a biennial “coaches’ conference” organised by Japan Football Association (JFA), was held in Yokohama in January. This year’s main theme was the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, which took place at the end of last year.

An extremely stimulating conference resulted from the sharing of numerous reports from a variety of perspectives, including a technical analysis of the World Cup as a whole, a review of the performance of the Japan National Team, and an in-depth look at the preparations made by the formidable Dutch team. Given the quality of the presentations, it was hard to believe that the conference was held less than a month after the World Cup Final. It undoubtedly emphasised how advanced JFA's technical department is, even on by world standards.

One of the pleasures of the conference for me was the presence of Mr. Alberto ZACCHERONI, who led the Japan National Team for four years from 2010.

He spoke as a guest on the first day during the “World Football Forum,” where Mr. Arsene WENGER (France) and Mr. Jurgen KLINSMANN (Germany) also participated online. Since all three were part of the FIFA World Cup™ Technical Study Group (TSG), they engaged in a lively conversation. Then, on the second day, he appeared on stage for the conference's final session, “Football in the Future.”

The session was facilitated by Mr. Andy ROXBURGH (Scotland), former Technical Director of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and current Technical Director of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). He has been almost a regular at the JFA's football conference and has consistently provided the most up-to-date technical information from around the globe to Japan.

After discussing some of the prepared themes with Mr. KAGEYAMA Masanaga, Director of Youth Development for the JFA, Mr. Roxburgh invited Mr. Zaccheroni to the stage and posed the question, “What will the future of football look like?”

However, Mr. Zaccheroni started to ramble on about his time serving as the head coach of the Japan National Team. Perhaps he had some thoughts he wanted to share after hearing the discussion between the two. Or maybe the question was lost in the translation from English to Italian.

Mr. Roxburgh listened patiently, but as the facilitator, he did not want to spend the entire time talking about the past. He interrupted Mr. Zaccheroni in the middle of his speech and then took over the rest of the session with the topics he had prepared, concluding the session with a list of ten reasons why Japanese football will grow in the future.

After being interrupted, and for the following 30 minutes until the end of the session, Mr. Zaccheroni occasionally looked as if he wanted to say something while holding a microphone, but eventually gave up and listened to Mr. Roxburgh's “solo performance.”

Given his position as a facilitator, Mr. Roxburgh's actions may have been understandable, but I felt that he lacked respect for Mr. Zaccheroni. If I were in Mr. Zaccheroni's shoes, I might have been upset and said, “I won't come to this conference anymore.”

However, Mr. Zaccheroni had a different response. At the end of the session, he gave a hug to Mr. Roxburgh, who had come to shake his hand, and calmly asked, “Permit me to say one thing,” before saying the following.

“You listed ten reasons why Japanese football has a promising future, but I believe there is another. It's ‘passion.’ One of the key advantages of Japanese football is the ‘passion’ that allows for such a wonderful conference.”

The mood of the crowd, which had been a little awkward, changed in an instant, and everyone gave a rousing round of applause with a smile.

We all get upset when we are treated with disrespect. However, we can create magical moments like this if we can put ourselves in the other person's shoes and make the best of the situation rather than verbally expressing our anger. This quality may be a contributing factor to Mr. Zaccheroni's success as a coach.

Written by OSUMI Yoshiyuki (Football Journalist)

*This article was originally posted on the Japan Football Association Newsletter, “JFAnews,” February 2023 edition.

Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews”

The Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews” contains all the information on the Japan National Team, events hosted by JFA, tournament results, and team information throughout the nation. The official monthly magazine is a must read for coaches, referees, and all members of the football family.

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