He speaks in halting English and it is obvious language will be a barrier between Tatsuma Yoshida and the Lions he now leads.
But the communication gap surely did not show on the pitch as the 160th ranked Lions forced a 4-3 victory over the Solomon Islands at the National Stadium on Saturday evening in a friendly ‘A’ international match.
It was a topsy turvy match with high entertainment value as the Lions went for the jugular to ensure their new coach had a win under his belt after about a week in charge.
Goals from Faris Ramli, Sahdan Sulaiman, Gabriel Quak and skipper Hariss Harun gave the 1,500 fans who turned up much to cheer about, but with some questions to be answered like the sloppy defending which allowed the islanders the ability to score three goals.
The Solomon Islands, ranked 139th in the world, found the net through Feni Gagame, Andrew Abba and Benjamin Totori.
Yoshida said after the match that his Lions got the win “the hard way”.
The Lions will face off against Myanmar on Tuesday, 11 June at the National Stadium.
Photo: FAS