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The story
Kawasaki Frontale’s Yu Kobayashi (39) announced on September 23 that he will retire from active play as of January 1 next year. The veteran, who has played for the club exclusively for 17 years since joining in 2010, scheduled his press conference for 11:00 a.m. — matching both his own birthday and his squad number — and explained his decision by saying, “I could no longer fully believe in myself.” When he told his family about the retirement, his wife reportedly broke down crying and “cried for more than a week.” On 5channel threads, comments like “Who?” and “Seriously, nobody has any idea who this guy is” poured in regarding his name recognition, while other posts recounted the story of the wife who supported him through his battle with illness since his university days, and some reminisced about how tough rivals Yuya Osako and Shinji Okazaki made it hard for him to break into the national team.
Yu Kobayashi (39), a forward for J1 club Kawasaki Frontale and a former Japan national team member, held a press conference in Kawasaki City on the 23rd and announced that he will retire from active play as of January 1 next year.
The veteran, now in his 17th year with the club he joined exclusively back in 2010, scheduled the press conference for 11:00 a.m. on his 39th birthday, matching his uniform number 11. He revealed in his own words his intention to hang up his boots.
“I could no longer fully believe in myself. I could no longer fully believe in myself. I often played on emotion, so I decided that if I couldn’t do that anymore, I should step down as a player,” he confessed as his reason for deciding to retire.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Is he like some famous football player?
Yeah, this
Seriously, nobody has any idea who this guy is
From a distance he kind of looks like Akira Kobayashi (the old-school singer/actor)
Uh, who was it again
The guy who's both a singer and an actor
Can't remember the name
Had a pretty long career after all
Well earned rest
Setsuko, that's Yuki Kobayashi (different player, common mix-up)
Also, he's still active
Tough rivals to deal with
Told my wife about the retirement.
She immediately broke down crying.
Sorry, no more luxuries for us.
I'm about to go tell the kids we can't buy toys anymore since there's no more salary coming in.
Some people out there live off nanaco [Seven-Eleven's e-money]. I will never forgive Seven-Eleven.
It's not like she was crying the whole time lol
Probably more like tearing up now and then remembering it, or crying while reminiscing about it
Well, up until now he was only rarely home, so having him around every single day probably isn't great
But he seemed to get injured every time he was called up
If it's Kawasaki, they'll probably line up some kind of front-office job for him
So money won't be an issue
facing Kawasaki Frontale was actually scary
Seriously nothing but nightmare memories
Maybe 30 years ago, but being a J-League player's wife these days isn't really that big a status symbol, I'd think
Being the wife of an active national team player, sure, that'd still carry some status
If he's a smooth talker doing commentary, maybe that path's open to him too?
We don't even know if Nakamura will be any good as a manager, so there's a chance for Kobayashi too — though we don't know if he'd be any good either
https://www.soccer-money.net/mobile/players/players.php?player_id=10233
So he is a legend, huh
Pretty low salary for a legend though
https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/column/detail/201811080003-spnavi?p=2
> The girlfriend who visited the hospital every day became his wife… The untold story before Yu Kobayashi joined Kawasaki Frontale
She might be one of the best soccer-player wives of all time
Reading this, sounds like both he and his wife cry a lot
She's been supporting Kobayashi's soccer career since their university days, so it's probably sad for her to see that come to an end
It's been dependent on tax money since the early days, that hasn't changed
Background and key points of this discussion
Yu Kobayashi joined Kawasaki Frontale in 2010 and has played for the club exclusively ever since, without ever transferring elsewhere. He was called up to the Japan national team at various points, but with proven forwards like Yuya Osako and Shinji Okazaki ahead of him, he was never able to lock down a regular spot. This retirement press conference was deliberately scheduled for 11:00 a.m. to mark both his birthday and his uniform number 11, a touch that reflected his own personal attention to detail. Reactions in the thread were split mainly over the question of his “name recognition” — many posts pointed out the reality that even a player who spent 17 years excelling for a single J-League club can remain largely unknown to the general public. On the other hand, once the story of his wife — who supported him through his battle with illness back in his university days — was introduced, some comments responded warmly to the story of her tears. There were also some cynical remarks about the J-League’s reliance on tax subsidies, with the discussion around one player’s retirement broadening into a wider debate about the environment surrounding the J-League as a whole.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports Express+) thread “[Soccer] Former Japan international Kawasaki F’s Yu Kobayashi: “The day was bound to come…” — When he told his family about his retirement… his wife burst into tears, “She cried for more than a week”“.
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