Arab News Japan

DUBAI: With the 13^th edition of the Japanese Gulf Cup coming up on Feb. 3 in Dubai, the seven football teams are preparing for the big match with the goal of a big win. The stakes are no different for the FC Causeway VerdeRosso team – a joint team with the Saudi Arabian Eastern Province players and the Bahraini players.

The President of the team Mitsuteru Shimomura spoke to Arab News Japan about the upcoming tournament, saying that his and the team’s goal is to “win the game and come in first place for the Gulf Cup 2023.”

“Our goal is to also enjoy the games,” Shimomura added. The unique name for the joint team, FC Causeway VerdeRosso, has a reference.

“’Causeway’ is in reference to the bridge from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain,” Shimomura explained. “And ‘Verde Rosso’ is Italian for green and red, representing the colors of Saudi and Bahrain.”

According to Shimomura, the idea to combine the two teams together was due to the smaller number of players on each team.

“In Saudi’s eastern province there aren’t many Japanese people like in Dubai. The same goes for Bahrain, it is already a small country with a small Japanese population,” he explained. “So, we decided to combine them as one team, and both teams have strong points.”

The players from Saudi Arabia commute to Bahrain for practice every Saturday, in preparation for the Japanese Gulf Cup.

Shimomura told Arab News Japan that Saudi’s current booming football scene is motivating the players.

“Saudi Arabia’s popular football scene has inspired my team, especially with Cristiano Ronaldo joining Al-Nassr,” he said. “It was also inspiring to watch the Saudi national team win against Argentina at the Qatar World Cup, it was very impressive.”

Shimomura moved to Saudi Arabia in 2019 and football team members informed him of the Japan Gulf Cup, he said, adding that since then it was his and his team’s aim to participate in the tournament every year.