L'Équipe has published an article detailing the career journey of Lille striker Ayase Ueda. He pursued a professional career through university football in Japan, where he extensively studied successful strikers with similar physical attributes and improved his goal-scoring efficiency with a computer-like mindset.

A talented Japanese striker discovered by a legendary Brazilian player who wore number 10, Ueda now shines in Europe. His story easily recalls Captain Tsubasa, the protagonist of the manga series of the same name. However, he was not discovered by Roberto Hongo, but by Zico.

Zico rarely interacts with individual players. When Ayase Ueda first came to his attention, the Brazilian legend known as the "White Pelé" was sporting director of Kashima Antlers and quickly recognized the young player's unique talent: his extreme obsession with scoring and his ability to always be in the right place in the penalty area. However, Ueda made his European debut in July 2022, when he joined Cercle Brugge, by which time he was nearly 24 years old.

This was not because Ueda went unnoticed earlier. Rather, he chose a career path that required patience. While European football development relies almost entirely on club academies, Japan has a unique hybrid development model with two parallel pathways: one through top club academies, and the other through university football. Young players can continue their studies while competing in high-level university leagues, and university teams often defeat J.League clubs. The only drawback of this pathway is that players typically turn professional later in their careers.

University football has produced late-blooming players like Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma, and nearly half of Japan's national team squad has followed this route. Ueda was also drawn to this model. Additionally, his late physical development during his youth caused him to miss some opportunities.

He spent two and a half years at Hosei University in Tokyo, leading the team to the national championship in 2018. Ueda thrived with this gradual development approach, hoping to secure a place in Japan's national team and the Tokyo 2021 Olympics squad through this pathway. He was still a student when he made his senior international debut for Japan in June 2019, and he did not sign his first professional contract until he was 20 years old.

However, choosing to take time to develop significantly reduced his chances of eventually playing in the Premier League, which has always been his dream. Premier League clubs rarely recruit players over 27 without prior Premier League experience, and Ueda is now 28 years old. Last season, he scored 25 goals for Feyenoord, becoming Eredivisie's top scorer. This summer, he finally hoped to get a chance to play in England. Fenerbahçe made a €25 million offer in July, but he rejected it, ultimately choosing Lille.

In recent years, players like Yoro, Baleba, Gudmundsson, Meunier, Fernández-Pardo, and Bouadi have used Lille as a stepping stone to playing in England, and this list impressed Ueda. Lille president Olivier Létang was proud of this "steal" he secured at the end of the transfer window, as the club spent "only" €15 million to recruit him. Ueda's personality quickly impressed Létang as well.

When he first arrived in Europe, Ueda stated, "Since childhood, scoring goals has been the only thing I cared about."

Ueda grew up in rural Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, living "deep in the forest." He started playing football at age 5 to imitate his father. His father was very strict with him, instilling rigorous training habits. Like Thierry Henry's father, Ueda's father was uncompromising, especially after matches, rarely praising him.

Ueda is very reserved in the locker room. During his time at Feyenoord, Ueda said of his personality, "I don't talk much. I don't like being surrounded by too many people. My teammates know that I like to be alone." Nevertheless, he has strong commercial influence in Japan. Lille hopes to generate commercial revenue from Ueda, similar to how they leveraged Indonesian player Calvin Verdonk's influence. His interest in fashion and his relationship with blogger Maitsuki Yubu also attracted attention. Maitsuki Yubu is now his wife, and this spring they welcomed their first child, a daughter.

However, at Lille's Luchin training ground, there is little indication of such celebrity status in Ueda's behavior. His somewhat indifferent personality is also reflected in his playing style. Ueda is a devoted admirer of Falcao, but his understanding of goal-scoring leans more toward scientific analysis than instinct.

Those closest to him say, "He doesn't see himself as an instinctive striker, but more like a computer." He analyzes every situation like a machine, forming a clear picture in his mind, then repeatedly practices and refines until he is exhausted. This is the method his father taught him. At Hosei University, he further refined this method through scientific research.

His university professor stated, "He is a player obsessed with studying how to make goal-scoring movements more rational and how to score with as few touches as possible."

Internal documents summarizing his university experience show that Ueda first thoroughly analyzed "his own physiological characteristics and athletic abilities," then carefully studied "preparatory actions and cognitive processes" of great strikers with similar physiques and without exceptional physical attributes, and integrated these into his own game. At 1.82 meters tall, the strikers he studied included Henrik Larsson, Filippo Inzaghi, and Raúl.

From Larsson, he learned "running techniques to subtly enter defenders' blind spots"; from Inzaghi, he learned "quick reactions and cognitive processes needed to anticipate opponents' balance shifts"; from Raúl, he learned "improvisation techniques in the penalty area and highly rational decision-making approaches." This was only part of his research. Deep observation, memory, and repeated practice, combined with real match experience, especially under Robin van Persie's guidance at Feyenoord, allowed him to compensate for his relatively short stature as a center forward. He became a highly dangerous heading specialist with excellent jumping ability and precise timing.

According to Japanese media estimates, during the last World Cup, in Japan's 4-0 victory over Tunisia on June 21, where Ueda scored two goals, one of his headers reached a height of 2.50 meters. In his first four matches after joining Lille, Ueda scored 3 goals; during the international break, he scored 4 goals in 4 matches for Japan's national team. Ayase Ueda has now developed into a remarkable striker.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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