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“At that time, the J League, a professional league, had just started (in 1993). Gary Lineker had been there just before me (Gary joined Grampus Eight from Spurs in 1992), players like Zico, Dunga of Brazil, some others as well (the likes of Hristo Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup, Hulk and Park Ji Sung have all played in Japan since).  The J League brought through some important managers, Arsene Wenger, for instance, if I can mention him! Felipe Scolari, myself, of course, Ange Postecoglou much later (Ange won the title at Yokohama F. Marinos in 2019). At that moment, Japan had never played in a World Cup, the Asian Cup, yes, but that hadn’t happened. Since the start of the J League, and this shows you what an extraordinary success it has been, Japan have played in every single World Cup, from their first in France in 1998. They have also won the Asian Cup. Myself and Steve, we were there at the start of that success. After the three years in Shimizu, we had two years in Yokohoma F. Marinos and two years at Tokyo Verdy. As I said, it was a great adventure.

“To live in Japan… you have to experience it. In fact, I would recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity. To stay in Japan for some moment in your life is so, so nice. You fall in love with Japan. It’s such a wonderful place. It’s a very respectful culture, very humble, very successful. Nobody shouts, people don’t use the telephone in front of each other, it’s a very special place.”