‘I Was Feeling Frustrated’ – Southampton Star Insists Holiday Needed For Mental Peace | OneFootball

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Southampton star Yukinari Sugawara has shed light on his Bali trip after Japan’s World Cup exit, admitting he could just not get it off his mind.

Back in the summer of 2024, when the Saints were in the Premier League, they signed Sugawara for £6m from AZ Alkmaar.

He played 30 league games for them in his first season at the club, but could not help Southampton avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Following Southampton’s relegation to the Championship, he was loaned out to Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen, and they had an option to buy him as well.

The 26-year-old attacking full-back provided six assists in 31 league games for Die Werderaner, who hoped to keep hold of him.

Sugawara is now back at Saints, but he went on holiday with his national team-mate Takefusa Kubo after Japan were knocked out by Brazil in the round of 32 after a last-minute Gabriel Martinelli goal.

The Japanese international admitted that he was sceptical about fans’ reaction regarding the trip right after Japan were eliminated, but he insisted the trip was really fun.

“It was right after the World Cup, so I couldn’t really say it was fun because I was worried about what people would think”, Sugawara said on Fuji TV’s Nama Junk Sports programme (via Sponichi) when he was asked about the Bali trip.

“But it was incredibly fun.”

He further added that the trip to Bali was to distract himself after his country’s exit from the World Cup, and he also stressed that he wants to get better.

“To be honest, I was feeling frustrated.

“Even though I didn’t want to think about the World Cup, it was on my mind while I was sleeping or when I woke up in the morning.

“There was also the feeling of ‘Oh, the World Cup is over already,’ so we got together with people our age to forget about it for a while.

“What we had done wasn’t wrong, and we accepted the result, but we decided to go abroad to refresh ourselves, forget about it for a while, and regain the feeling of ‘I want to play soccer seriously again, I want to get better.

“It wasn’t a frivolous trip”, he added.

He featured in all four of Japan’s World Cup games last month, and now he will be looking forward to the upcoming campaign.