Not a pretty city, but good food and fans thirsty for success: visit Kashima with Rene Wheeler from Winterthur.
From Nuremberg to Anderlecht, a stopover in Lucerne, then Cairo and finally to Kashima in Japan. In just 7 years. Renee Weiler’s coaching positions seem quite bizarre, but the teams involved all build on a proud past: like Anderlecht in Belgium and Al-Ahly in Egypt, Kashima Antlers are record champions in their country.
Weiler presents a chance, in fact almost a duty, to win his third championship title on the Third Continent. The guy from Winterthur talks about fans of Antlers in the city, which is an hour and a half drive from Tokyo: “The atmosphere is great, the audience never stops cheering for the team. It doesn’t matter how it is. No assault. “
It’s not wild, but it’s not pretty either
He describes his relationship to Kashima, a city of 67,000 people, in a less cheerful way: “It’s not a desert, but it’s not beautiful either.” He admits: “I will not voluntarily choose Kashima as my place of residence.” But Weiler certainly doesn’t want to complain. In any case, the food is great, even if, for the sake of simplicity, he usually adds a fork and a knife to his chopsticks. And in the Pacific Ocean, at the city limits, he finds his safety.
The same goes for Kashima Jingu, a Shinto shrine in the city, which otherwise has few landmarks. The 48-year-old describes himself as a believer – even without going to church. “I believe in destiny and that you can influence it. I pray every day.”
It could have become the United States of America
So one can see that it ended up in Japan as fatalism. Because in the United States he already had an initial contract. What is not yet can be. Perhaps the Backpacker will soon chase his fourth title on the African continent.
At least for No. 3 it doesn’t look bad at all: With the Antlers, they are on top in the J-League after losing points. If he fails, on the other hand, it could have a fateful effect on his contract…
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