MILAN - WA! Japan Film Festival was held at the Auditorium San Fedele in Milan on Tuesday and among the films presented was Yuto-kun ga Iku, an animated film based on Yuto Nagatomo. The Nerazzurri defender spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the premiere.
He explained: "When they came to me with the idea of of this cartoon I was instantly positive about it because I want children to understand that they need desire and strength so they don't give up chasing their dreams. That's exactly what happened to me. So the message I want to give to kids is never give up and be positive. I'm a footballer now and that's what I dreamt of doing. I play for a very important team, Inter, so someone has given me a lot and I feel I should always give back."
Yuto also spoke about his World Cup call-up: "I thank Zaccheroni for calling me up. Now I'd like to be able to win the World Cup. There's even more desire after 2010, it's even stronger in me. I've never felt such a strong desire for success as what I'm feeling going into this World Cup.
"My season at Inter? I can get better, but I do think I've done some good things this year and I must thank Mazzarri for that. It's thanks to what he's taught me that I've improved the attacking side of my game and the mental side too. Thanks to him I've learnt to improve my movement in attack and that's why I've managed to score more goals."
Nagatomo then spoke to Inter Channel: "Yes, it's true, my character runs like me. I'm happy and I thank everyone who's made the film. "Our last week of training? We played well on Saturday, it was a wonderful evening – for the captain mainly. Now we'll keep working for the last game, we have to win it so we can go out on a high. The World Cup? It's a dream to play in a World Cup and I'm happy. I have to keep improving and perform well."
(special thanks to Stéphane Giraudeau for the photos)
