Karina Maruyama, former member of Japan’s women’s soccer team “Nadeshiko Japan”, posted on Twitter that the Japan men’s team will “win” at the FIFA World Cup (World Cup) Qatar tournament currently being held. Then she received a voice criticizing Maruyama as an “amateur”, and in addition to a series of retorts, Maruyama himself countered.
“I’m not an amateur though?”
It started with Maruyama’s tweet on December 3, 2022. On the previous day, the Japanese national team defeated powerhouse Spain and advanced to the final tournament in 1st place with 2 wins and 1 loss in the group stage. Mr. Maruyama said, “Somehow, it’s just a feeling, but I feel like Samurai Blue will win.”
However, some Twitter users replied to this tweet, “It’s free if it’s just an amateur who doesn’t know anything about soccer.” During her career, Maruyama won the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and Nadeshiko Japan was awarded the People’s Honor Award. In this post, Tsukkomi continued, saying, “This is so embarrassing” and “You exposed your ignorance.” Maruyama-san also countered, saying, “She’s not an amateur, though.” The poster has deleted the tweet and account.
Afterwards, Maruyama updated his Twitter account again, saying, “If I mumble about winning the championship, there will be people who say something like, ‘I won’t win.’ Complaining about the reply that crushes hope. “But if I win, I’m sure they’ll make a big fuss. All the players are aiming for the championship! There’s no player who doesn’t aim for the championship,” he continued.
Furthermore, he touched on the World Cup victory, saying, “We were told that there was no way we could win, so we were able to win. Whether we win or lose, the feeling of aiming is important, and the feeling of believing is important.” Negative people who I have never met and never interacted with.
“Even if no one thought they would win, all the players were aiming for the championship, right?”
After that, on December 4, Maruyama also updated his Instagram, saying, “When I tweeted on Twitter that I felt like I was going to win, I received a lot of different opinions. Is it okay if I mutter my feelings and sensations?”
“Even in our times, we’ve never won against Germany or the United States, and we’ve been told that it seems like both children and adults are playing, and everyone around us doesn’t think we can win. All the players were aiming for the championship, right?It doesn’t matter if they’re boys or girls, all the players are fighting with that passion.If you think you can’t do it, lose, lose, don’t do it. It’s better. I think that’s what the national team is like.” More than when I was in 2010, I feel more now that I’m on the side of the supporter, so I think that feeling will reach the players!”
In response to the series of posts, Mr. Maruyama received comments such as, “These words are only because he fought with Japan on his back,” and “The words of the members who actually won the World Cup have a different weight.”