The previous San Jose Earthquakes striker has been away from the sport for 2 years because of accidents however just lately resurfaced in Japan, the place he has signed on with a staff in that nation’s fourth tier.
BY
Brian Sciaretta
Posted
February 07, 2017
5:00 PM
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ASK ANY GROUP OF American soccer fan what they consider Steven Lenhart and also you arebound to get an enormous vary of responses. Some love him for his depth whereas others hate him for his chippy type of play. Solely a scant minority are impartial on Lenhart even after he is been away from the sport for almost two years because of accidents.
To supporters of the San Jose Earthquakes, he was part of “Goonies” staff in 2012 that gained the Supporters Defend—a squad that usually performed higher than the sum its elements and made a behavior of thrilling comebacks and late winners. On Could 23 that yr, that Earthquakes scored thrice within the remaining 18 minutes to defeat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2. Lenhart mentioned afterward that “Goonies by no means die,” which grew to become a rallying cry for the staff.
To many others, Lenhart was seen as perhaps the largest villain within the historical past of the league. There have been quite a few articles labeling him a grimy participant, a foul boy, or somebody who simply will get below the pores and skin of opponents.
In individual, he’s the embodiment of a free spirit. And now that free spirit has taken Lenhart throughout the Pacific Ocean to Japan the place he’ll try and revive his profession with FC Imabari of the fourth tier in Japan.
“It was a surprise to myself,” Lenhart advised American Soccer Now. “I simply packed my luggage, discovered a house for my canine, and introduced a pair pairs of cleats, and got here to Japan. I did not actually have a plan—no plan in any respect really.
“I did not have a staff. I had two buddies who’re Japanese and they’re form of linked within the soccer world, however probably not. They despatched a video of me out to a few groups and this was the one staff that mentioned, ‘He may are available in and prepare with us.’ I educated in the future and it is simply form of been unfolding from there.
“My canine was the one factor that was holding me again for a bit.”
The choice to move to Japan on a whim originated in December 2015 when Lenhart made his first journey to the nation. On the time his knee was nonetheless a large number and he was considering retirement. His buddy Alan Gordon had just lately put him in contact with a Japanese physician who has practices in each Japan and Los Angeles.
Lenhart, 30, made a visit to Japan as a part of his rehab and in response to Lenhart he “completely revitalized my body.” After a second journey to Japan in 2016, Lenhart is now coaching on turf.
“I’ve had to find my own care to get healthy,” Lenhart recalled. “I had a bunch of surgeries and nothing was working. Now I am healthy. I am training every day on turf. I have to build a bit of my foundation back because it’s been two years since I’ve played but I am really, really strong now.”
After solely a quick trial at FC Imabari, Lenhart signed a contract; his press convention was televised. The staff is predicated on the southern island Shikoku and the idea of getting an American participant is a shocking thought to locals. English is a rarity on this space of Japan—even on the staff. The one method for Lenhart to speak with officers and teammates is to make use of an interpreter who can translate Japanese into his second language of Spanish.
Since his arrival, Lenhart is incessantly stopped on the road by people who find themselves wanting to say hi there. Just about nobody is aware of about his controversial historical past in Main League Soccer. Typically when he’s in a café, folks purchase him dinner as a result of they “just want to hang out.”
FC Imabari is within the fourth tier however it’s an formidable membership. The staff’s president, Takeshi Okada, is a nationally identified determine who served as Japan’s nationwide staff coach for the 1998 and 2010 World Cups. His long-term objective is to raise Imabari to the top-tier J-League.
The short-term objective for Imabari, which is now in preseason forward of its March 5 opener, is to earn promotion to the third tier. Indicators are encouraging after a comparatively simple defeat of a second tier staff in a pleasant.
And thus far Lenhart is impressed.
“When you say the fourth tier of Japan, what pops into your mind?” Lenhart asks rhetorically. “What pops into my thoughts is the extent is super-low, in all probability not getting paid a lot, persons are amateurs with one other job. The sphere is shit. So then if I’m going on the market onto the sector with that mindset, I’m not going to be ok. I am unable to simply go on the market considering I’ve carried out it.
“I’ve to work onerous and be match. They run a ton and the extent is sweet, the method is absolutely good. The best way the staff performs lacks a little bit little bit of group however there’s a lot intention in how they wish to study and the way they wish to play, and the way they deal with themselves.
“This team is very exciting,” he continued. “Takeshi Okada, the president, is the man who took Japan to the World Cup twice. In Japan, all people is aware of him. He has this imaginative and prescient for the staff and the town. He’s pouring all this power into the staff. He cares about his gamers. He cares about taking part in good soccer. The folks he has working for him, all people is so form. They wish to construct one thing however in the appropriate method.
“They’re desiring to win the league this yr however it’s not nearly shifting up and being the very best, it is doing it the appropriate method. There’s only a ton of care. It is actually refreshing.”
However can Japanese soccer followers count on the identical Steve Lenhart was each beloved and hated in MLS from 2008-2014?
When knowledgeable that his official bio on the MLS web site refers to him as an “anti-hero”, Lenhart chuckles.
“Go back, go back. Official bio?” Lenhart says in amusement. “Who is official? I am officially the anti-hero in somebody’s perspective, huh?”
After a quick pause to gather his ideas, he addresses that well-known aspect of him.
“It’s certainly a side of me that I have to embrace,” he mentioned. “If I say no to it or I act prefer it’s not there, then I feel I’m doing a disservice to myself. I’ve to embrace it. It is part of me. However do I wish to exist in being seen as absolutely that?
“No—as a result of that’s not absolutely who I’m. However I feel it is simple to see me as absolutely that and to have that as my id. It is simply part of me, man.”
So will that a part of him come out in Japan? Lenhart can be coy.
“I will be as colorful as I need to be and as colorful as I want to be,” he mentioned. “Soccer is my way of expressing.”
However the transfer to Japan was abour extra than simply soccer for Lenhart. Ever since his first go to to the nation, he was fully drawn to tradition and now admits he wouldn’t thoughts settling down completely in Japan.
Lenhart lives on a picturesque bayfront with mountains and sizzling springs close by. He insists that he’s “diving fully into it” in attempting to immerse himself into the neighborhood and spending plenty of time attempting to study the language. Final week he met a kindergarten instructor and already has plans to work with the children within the college—one thing that has all the time been of curiosity to him. He additionally plans on shopping for a paddleboard and perhaps even a ship to go discover the character round him.
As he finishes consuming his Sunday lunch that consists of rice balls, nigiri sushi, and a banana, he solutions a remaining query about his present frame of mind
“I am loving it, man,” Lenhart mentioned smiling. “Japan is absolutely amazing. Everything is interesting and exciting. There is so much to learn here, dude. Everything is new and different. I have just been interacting with a ton of Japanese people and exploring. Japan, for me, holds a beautiful part in life that I am just connected to. Generally speaking the way Japanese people go about their trade and what they pour their energy into, is something I am very drawn to.”
“I had a few opportunities in MLS but this is more interesting to me.”
