Competing as a top attacking midfielder
Giving everything for Tokyo
MF 10 Keigo HIGASHI
Special content introducing the all-blue-red warriors who will challenge the 2024 season. What are the players who are approaching the opening thinking and what kind of determination are they facing for the year? The story of the players who have club love, thirst for titles, thoughts for success, and the roles they must fulfill. Celebrating his 12th season, Keigo HIGASHI, who has supported the team as a multi-role player. What he holds after going through various experiences is a strong feeling of "for Tokyo". In order to balance history and innovation, he will challenge the new season as a top attacking midfielder.
"I have grown a lot as a player and as a person in this club. I want to play this season with gratitude."
After finishing the pre-season camp, Keigo HIGASHI said, "This will be my 12th season in Tokyo. As the "blue and red man", I have witnessed the changes that come with each zodiac cycle. Players, staff, and coaches have come and gone. In recent years, I have been asked to play multiple roles and have played almost every position except for goalkeeper. Despite struggling with these changes, I have supported the team."
In the 2021 season, in the away game against Yokohama F.Marinos where they suffered a crushing 0-8 defeat, Rio OMORI, who was a rookie at the time, entered the 3-back formation in a difficult situation where the lead was expanding. In the second half of the 2022 season, where he had been increasingly left out of the starting lineup, he was entrusted with the role of anchoring the 4-1-2-3 formation, which had become vacant. He always responded to the demands of the bench and was able to handle the situation despite being inexperienced. Overcoming such experiences, he has reached a state where he feels "fun in a full circle". The only thing that exists there is the feeling of "for Tokyo".
"There is a history from Tokyo Gas Soccer Club, and the parent company became MIXI, and the emblem changed. There were difficult times, but I think the club becomes stronger through such processes. It's not right to forget the past and start everything anew, and I think we are here now because of various experiences. The team is taking on new challenges, but as someone who has known them since 12 years ago, I want to continue to inherit the history firmly while challenging new things."
This season, Keigo HIGASHI will start as a top midfielder for the team for the first time in a while. Other players unanimously praise his skill as "excellent". This is the perfect position for him to demonstrate his natural abilities. He has a fierce determination and unwavering beliefs, but at the same time, he has also gained a sense of composure with age. "If I can use that as a flavor, it would be great." He continues to meet the expectations placed on him and on the pitch, he will show a balance between his fierce determination and composure, and demonstrate his natural abilities and true worth.
Text by Wataru GOTO (Freelance Writer)
