Throughout last year's battles, the keyword for the team was "passion."
The battles that fueled them were expressed as a desire to win, creating excitement in the stadium.
This season's WE ARE GAMBA OSAKA will shine a spotlight on the spirit that lies behind the "passion" of each player. What kind of power will their soul, enthusiasm, courage, and determination give to the team this season?

What lies in his heart is always the ambition to "grow." This has always driven Tokuma SUZUKI to run and fight.
"I think the strongest feeling is when you love something. Because you love it, you want to practice, and because you practice, it becomes clear what you can and can't do. You also work hard to overcome those things. If you think about it, it's been a constant loop, but there's no end to getting better, so I'll never give up on myself. I think this will continue until I retire."
The process is not always smooth sailing. Sometimes it feels like the growth curve is on a downward slope, not just flat. But if you accept all of that and realize that there is growth to be found, then bring it all on.
"I think being a professional soccer player is a job where there are a lot of ups and downs in your growth curve, or rather, a lot of ups and downs. It would be great if you could grow steadily, but you can't grow in one leap, and even if you think you're growing, if the numbers don't show it, it's natural that you won't be judged as such. You can also suddenly feel stagnant for no particular reason. But on the contrary, I think that's a good thing. Because there are so many ups and downs...especially the bad times, I believe that's what allows you to grow. In fact, there are some things that you can only see by struggling and trying to overcome them, and when something happens that makes you think, 'Oh, I failed that time,' it always comes with the thought, 'I'll do it this way next time.' I believe that if you take action and try to do something again, try to change, your growth curve will definitely rise again."
Of course, Suzuki himself doesn't know what lies ahead or what kind of person he will become if he continues doing this. But perhaps it is precisely because he doesn't know that he is expected to do more and more.
"My goals change depending on who I am at any given time, but if there's one thing I always keep in mind, it's what kind of player I want to be at the end of my career. By continuing to add a kind of "variety" of play to the core of myself, depending on the team's tactics at the time, various branches will grow out, and ultimately I hope to become a player like Yat-san (Coach Yasuhito ENDO) or Myo-san (Coach Tomokazu MYOJIN), who, just by hearing my name, people will say, "Oh, he was a good player" or "He was an amazing player." I want to become a player who is described as a "good player" or "amazing player" overall, rather than just being told that this or that was good in the small details of my play. I will continue to struggle to achieve this."
What he is now strongly hoping to achieve is "five goals and five assists" in the second half of the season. Based on last year's performance, he has set himself a challenge since the beginning of the season: "I want to touch the ball more than 60 times per game, with 50 to 70 percent of those passes being vertical." He says he wants to clearly translate this challenge into numbers.
"Honestly, there were many things that didn't go well in the first half of the season, but like I said before, because things weren't going well, I stuck to them and continued to challenge myself in my own way. I want to see that translate into clear numbers in future battles, and I don't think I can be of much help to the team if I don't, so I'll continue to demand that of myself."
By not giving up and continuing to pursue your goals tenaciously, you will discover a new you.

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Text by Takamura Misa

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