"Passion" became the team's keyword throughout last year's battles.
This was expressed as an obsession with winning and generated enthusiasm in the stadium.
This season's WE ARE GAMBA OSAKA will focus on the "spirit" that lies behind the passion of each player. What kind of power will their soul, enthusiasm, and determination give to Gamba this season?

Now playing for GAMBA OSAKA, his first J1 club since 2020, Shogo Sasaki is finding a new joy in football.
"When I was with Kashima Antlers, I had just graduated from high school and had just become a professional, so I played soccer without any confidence. In fact, I was always doing what people around me told me to do, and my seniors were always scolding me, so I wondered, "Why did I become a professional?" However, I transferred to Iwate Grulla Morioka in the (then) J3 League on a temporary basis in August 2020, and then transferred permanently to JEF United Chiba in the J2 League in 2022, and during that time I gained a lot of experience in my own way. This year, I've been playing for Gamba in the J1 League for the first time in a long time, but I'm playing with a completely different mindset than when I was with Kashima. Of course, the competition is fierce, there are many things I feel I'm lacking, and I still need to improve my defensive strength and my ability to read the game. But I'm taking a very positive attitude that I can find it "fun."
Sasaki grew up in Kashima's academy, but surprisingly, it wasn't until he was in high school that he started to clearly consider becoming a professional.
"Even when I was in junior high school, I just played soccer for some reason, and I don't think I was working backwards from becoming a professional."
However, he was inspired by the words of Koji KUMAGAI, the Head Coach of Kashima Youth, who told him, "If you're going to play here, you should really aim to be a professional," and he set his sights on a goal. At the time, he was a sideback. When he started to focus on using his "kick," which he had been confident in since his elementary school days as a FW, he quickly rose to prominence.
"When I was in elementary school, I scored a ton of goals as a FW and found that to be fun, so I resisted when I was told to play as a side back at the end of my first year of junior high school. But as I continued playing, I started to find it fun, and I was able to express my own strengths more and more. Even in high school, I sometimes played as a FW or defensive midfielder in practice matches, but in games I was always a side back. I wasn't particularly fast, but I played with the accuracy of my crosses and kicks."
After turning professional, he moved to Iwate on a temporary transfer in August 2020 and began playing on the left side of a three-man defense, but in Chiba he has increasingly been given more defensive positions, mainly playing on the left side of a four-man defense.
"It's one thing to be left in a three-back formation, but when you're left in a four-back formation, your role is clearly to play defense. I was resistant at first, just like when I started playing as a fullback. But as I played, I started to find it interesting to play in one-on-one situations and to look at the whole picture and move the team. In particular, in recent years, center backs often play the role of creating the game or building up the attack, which may be why I find it interesting. That means there is a lot that is required, including footwork, but in my case, the more I feel that I "have to do it," the more fun it becomes. This year, I've moved up a category and the level, speed, and accuracy of the FW I'm facing are completely different, so at this point I feel more dissatisfied, including physically, but that's why I want to get better. In the first place, there is no "perfection" in this world, and even if you overcome something, the next wall will soon appear in front of you, which is what makes it interesting. I think I can keep trying because I know I'll never be "perfect."
He works hard because he feels he lacks something. He wants to grow, so he looks at himself. He "wants to go as far as possible," so he is never satisfied with the status quo and pushes himself with all sorts of desires. Sasaki believes that he has become who he is today through a repetition of these experiences, and that is why he faces soccer with the desire to strive for more and more.


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Text by Takamura Misa

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