Shuya Nakajima’s family traveled all the way from Japan to Turkey to witness his debut.
It was disastrous.
Nakajima was shown a red card after 20 seconds and his mother burst into tears in the stands.
Shoya Nakajima played 19 caps for Japan and spent three seasons with Portuguese giants Porto.
It’s big in Japan, but still underdog in Europe.
Now the 28-year-old has made headlines around the world, but unfortunately for the wrong reasons…
family in place
In Saturday’s match against Adana Demirspor in the Turkish league, Nakajima was responsible for what is now being referred to as “the worst debut ever”.
The clock had just passed 58.00 and his new club Antalyaspor lost 0-1 when the coach decided to replace his new Japanese deal.
Sitting in the stands, the Nakajima family looked tense and full of anticipation after cutting the long flight from Tokyo to Antalya.
But after only 20 seconds, joy turned to despair.
mother crying
It is clear that the frantic Nakajima got into a duel with Norway’s Jonas Svensson and after reviewing the VAR, the referee decided to withdraw the red card.
Thus, Nakajima’s first appearance in front of the home audience was over before he had just begun.
The television production was quick to round out the family portrait in the stands as the mother, who couldn’t believe her eyes, appeared to be crying.
Then Antalyaspor lost the match 0-3.