Lionel Messi, one of football’s greatest icons, recently opened up about his connection to the legendary manga Captain Tsubasa as part of a collaboration with eFootball™.
Konami recently dropped news of a collaboration between Captain Tsubasa and their football game eFootball™. As part of the collaboration, exclusive in-game cards designed by Yoichi Takahashi himself will be introduced. These cards uniquely pair real-life football stars with their Captain Tsubasa counterparts. Lionel Messi, fittingly, is paired with Tsubasa Ōzora.
For those who don’t know, Captain Tsubasa is a legendary football manga created by Yoichi Takahashi that first ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1981 to 1988.
The series has since spawned numerous sequels, spin-offs, anime adaptations, and even video games. It’s credited with inspiring a generation of footballers, particularly in Japan, South America, and parts of Europe. So yeah, hearing Messi talk about it makes a lot of sense.
Messi and Captain Tsubasa’s Legacy
Messi, in an interview tied to this collaboration, mentions how he grew up reading Captain Tsubasa. This isn’t just a PR line either; Captain Tsubasa has genuine cultural significance, especially in countries where football is a religion.
Having grown up reading the manga, it was natural to be compared sometimes. I took this as a positive sign that people saw me as a football hero.
Messi
The manga’s protagonist, Tsubasa Oozora, is a passionate player who dreams of leading Japan to international football glory. Sound familiar? That ethos of relentless determination is something Messi himself embodies.
Messi has been compared to Tsubasa before, and the parallels are obvious. Both are prodigies with an almost supernatural ability to dominate the pitch. This crossover event pairs Messi with Tsubasa, which feels like the most natural choice, honestly.
Neymar and Suárez Get Their Manga Counterparts
In this collab, Neymar is paired with Hikaru Matsuyama (Philip Callahan in international versions), and Luis Suárez is matched with Kojiro Hyuga (Mark Lenders). These choices seem pretty deliberate.
Hyuga’s aggressive, no-nonsense playing style mirrors Suárez’s on-field tenacity, while Matsuyama, a versatile midfielder known for his adaptability, fits Neymar’s creative, flair-filled approach to football. It’s clear that Yoichi Takahashi, who personally illustrated these cards, didn’t make these pairings randomly.
Why Captain Tsubasa Still Resonates Globally
It’s wild how Captain Tsubasa became this global phenomenon. While it’s obviously a huge name in Japan, the series has massive fandoms in places like Brazil, where football and anime culture intersect in fascinating ways.
The manga series played a significant role in popularizing football in Japan during the ’80s and ’90s. Even now, players like Andrés Iniesta and Fernando Torres have openly credited it with influencing their love for the sport.
Iniesta’s even said he saw himself in Tsubasa as a kid. That’s how deep this series runs in football culture. Andres Iniesta when visited Japan, he couldn’t believe that he could come to the country where Captain Tsubasa was created.
In Europe, though not as widely recognized, it still made an impact. In France and Italy, Captain Tsubasa aired under names like Olive et Tom and gained a cult following.
