[Local]He made a pretty quick comeback.” “Honestly, about the World Cup…” Why did Daichi Kamata take the risk and “forced to participate” even though the World Cup was coming up? Coach marveled: “I was very surprised and impressed.

#Daichi Kamada #Crystal Palace #Premier League #Japan National Team #Overseas Soccer #Return Match #Glassner #Soccer #World Cup #DaichiKamada The end of the game saw Crystal Palace lead by one point in the 77th minute. Daichi Kamata was quietly sent out onto the pitch. Away match against Brighton. His role in his return match was to defend the remaining 15 to 20 minutes and close out the match. After his first real game in two months, Kamata warmed down and then stopped on his way to the locker room to be interviewed. One of the reporters asked, “Did you enjoy playing for the first time in a while?” After thinking about it, he answered calmly, “Rather than that, I decided to return much earlier, so I really tried to prevent it from happening again, and there was a time limit.” A situation where the team is in the lead. Looking back on his appointment despite limited playing time, he said, “I was hoping that I could win, that I could win.” Right hamstring injury sustained in the match against Manchester City on December 14th. Since then, Kamata has been sidelined, and Crystal Palace have not won a single league match during that time. Until he left, the team was in the top rankings, and he started 14 consecutive league games. He played a role in the team’s continued good performance. However, without No. 18, the team plummeted down the standings. “Until I was there, we were in fifth place in the Premier League, so I think we were in a pretty good position, and I never expected things to fall apart like that.” All he could do was watch from the sidelines as the team fell into a slump.“I think it was a very difficult period for Palace, and for myself, I was struggling with my desire to play and my injury.It felt like a really long time.” Still, preparations for his return were steadily progressing. It took him about three weeks to get back to running condition after his injury, and he only joined the team’s practice about two weeks ago. “We talked about how well the injury would heal and how much risk we should take so as not to compromise my condition.I wasn’t too worried about my condition or my heart and lungs.” However, it was difficult to decide how much risk to take. Kamata himself had informed manager Oliver Glasner and the medical team of his intention to participate in the match against Chelsea two weeks before the match against Brighton. Still, the go-ahead was not given easily. “Whenever I get injured, I usually come home without spending as much time as I should, so I was negotiating with the team that I wanted to play in the fifth week of the game this time as well.However, the image (of the injury) and my own body were not proportionate.It was very hard to convince them.”Looking back on his interactions with the medical staff, he couldn’t help but smile. “I said it in a very one-sided way.When you look at the images, all the doctors basically say the same thing.However, it is also a place where recurrence is easy, so it was difficult.”The reason behind his eventual return was the relationship of trust he had with the director. “If the coach didn’t know about me, I don’t think I would have come back at this time,” he said, hinting at the difficult situation he was in. Press conference after the match against Brighton. When I asked Coach Glasner how he would rate Kamata’s performance, he narrowed his eyes and said, “I’m very happy.” “Daichi is a very special player. Everyone around him kept trying to convince him that he needed to take more time to heal, but he had been trying to get back on the pitch for a couple of weeks. We said, ‘We can’t do that because it’s too risky,’ but last week I talked to Daichi and we decided to take the risk together. He said, ‘Physically he can do it all, and he wants to do it all,’ so he took part in full training.” “And today, when I saw Daichi play for 15 to 20 minutes, I was honestly very surprised and impressed. Even though he was away for eight weeks, he didn’t feel like he was absent at all,” he said with wide eyes. In his return match, Kamata didn’t have a flashy play, but his clever play was still alive and well, and he showed his “character” everywhere. In the 82nd minute, he picked up a loose ball and attempted to dribble and was knocked down by a violent slide from behind, but he quickly got back up and continued playing. There was no sign that he was concerned about the back of his right thigh. Kamata, who made his comeback, wiped his sweat and said, “They asked me to play in the fifth week, so I was pretty confident that I could do it.” On the other hand, he says, “However, I think there is still some risk, so I feel like we have to stay alert and do things properly.” The World Cup is coming up in June, but when asked about the topic, Kamata’s answers were consistent. “If I’m worried about the World Cup, I’ll take more time for treatment.Basically, every doctor will tell me, “It’s better to wait until it heals properly.”” Still, he prioritized “now.” “Of course (the World Cup) is important to me, but this ‘now’ at Palace…that’s how I’ve been playing my soccer career up until now. I don’t think it would be right for me to change that too much. Of course, that’s very important, but if I can get the feeling I want, I want to do it, so that’s what I wanted to do.” “Honestly, I’m not really thinking about the World Cup at the moment.If I don’t do well at Palace, I won’t be able to make it there, so I feel like I have to do my best at Palace.”At Crystal Palace, various problems arose in the little over two months that the Japan representative was away from the team. However, we must forget about them for the time being and start moving forward as a team again. In this situation, the 29-year-old has no choice but to lead the team with performances like he did in the first half of this season in order to rise again with the team. After eight weeks of struggle and determination, Kamata took to the pitch again. On this day, the coach’s words were, “(It’s been a long time since we won) This is a new start,” and Kamata’s comeback is a signal for himself and the club to restart towards the end of the game.