On the 4th, after the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 33 match Vissel Kobe [MATCH PARTNER DHL], Isaac Kiese Thelin spoke about his thoughts on his first J1 League goal and his enthusiasm for the future.

(He scored his first J.League goal in front of a crowd of over 38,000.)
"I've been waiting for this moment so it's a fantastic feeling. I'm very happy to have scored in front of our home fans and supporters."

(Though you've had some good chances up until now, you haven't been able to score any goals.)
"Having chances means I'm in good form. If I have chances and I'm involved in them, goals will come eventually. In fact, even if the goals don't go in or I make mistakes, I don't really mind. It just means I was in the right position, and that's what matters. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't, but today they did, so I'm happy. I just need to keep working hard.

We've all been Trial well over the last three or four Trial. However, we've been unlucky and haven't been able to score many goals. I'm proud of the team today. I'm really happy that we won."

(What impact did Shusaku Nishikawa 's penalty save have on the team?)
"I think it was that save that made all the difference. He's a great goalkeeper and I'm happy for him. Without that save we wouldn't have won, so I want to say 'good job' to him as well."

(As you start and your playing time increases, do you feel that your scoring ability has improved and that your condition has improved?)
"I'm improving every day. I'm getting better at Trial, and my teammates understand my style."

(Matheus Savio 's kick was pinpoint.)
"We were talking about this before the free kick. We had some great opportunities in the first half and were close to scoring. We both had a good feeling about it, so I think it was good."

(It was such a powerful shot that it bounced off the opponent's hand.)
"He made some incredible saves in previous Trial, but I'm glad the ball went in today."

(Wasn't that your first goal at Saitama Stadium?)
"I've been waiting for this moment. It's an amazing feeling. I think it's the best feeling for a striker. When the ball goes into the goal, it's an amazing feeling that's hard to put into words."

(Wouldn't it have been better if we had scored more points?)
"I think the three points are the most important thing, so I'm happy with that."

Can we expect him to score in the next Trial?
"I would never say anything like that. I just do my job. Let's look forward to what happens next. I just do my job humbly."

(Isn't the weather nice now?)
"Right now the weather is similar to Sweden, so that's good. It's going great."

(Summers in Japan are extremely harsh, so perhaps people were looking forward to this time of year.)
"That's true. My fellow players were saying that this summer has been abnormal. It was a shock, but the weather is nice now. The manager has also been very controlling with me. He didn't give me 90 minutes straight away, but rather gradually gave me playing time in a new league to prevent injuries, so you can see his experience."

(Even though Trial well in September, we were far from winning, but today's Trial may be a good opportunity for the future.)
"We want to take this result in a positive light. To be honest, in my experience, it's rare that we haven't won with such a good performance. We didn't win despite our good performance, but the only thing missing was a goal. The team continued to work hard even during difficult times. The coach told us to work hard, just like in previous Trial, and that led to the result today."

(The next match is in two weeks.)
"The season has been long, so I'd like to take the next two weeks off and work hard. Of course, after winning, I'll want to play again right away. I'll do my best to carry this positive momentum into the next round."

What would you like to fix during this time?
"We've been training hard over the past few weeks, so we need to maintain that intensity and then it's all about the team's overall strength and teamwork. Winning and building team spirit is important. If we don't win, we'll be in dangerous situations, so I think winning is very important. It's the manager's job to decide what we can improve, so I'll leave that to him."

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