Photo: Takumi Kinoshita, Fire Coach Paul Arnison and Kenya Takahashi (photo by Emily Wilson)
Sunshine Coast FC’s Japanese visa players Kenya Takahashi and Takumi Kinoshita have arrived in Australia and will start training with the squad this week ahead of the PlayStation ® 4 NPL Queensland season 2015.
Both players arrived on Wednesday and have spent a day adjusting to life in Australia.
Striker Takahashi comes from one of the top nurseries in Japan, having developed at the Youth Academy of J-League Club Yokohama Marinos before moving into the national youth competition side in 2010.
Defender Kinoshita, 23, played in Japan’s top university league before spending a season at German club FC Inde Hahn.
Kinoshita said he was looking forward to learning more about the Australian style of play in the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues.
“The level of football in Australia is high, which can be seen by Australia winning the Asia Cup. The style differs in that Australian football is powerful and aggressive whereas in Japan the emphasis is more on technique,” Kinoshita said.
“I would like to help the Fire get into the finals this year and our ambition will be to win the Championship. We both want to play our part in making the team successful.”
Kinoshita and Takahashi will both have their first training session with the Fire this Friday.
