KIYOTAKE EMPHASISES SEVILLA'S GREATNESS IN THE PRESENTATION FOR THE MATCH AGAINST CEREZO OSAKA

Ex-Sevilla FC player Hiroshi Kiyotake praised the "greatness" of the club during a press conference organised this Friday by Cerezo Osaka, his current team, as a presentation for July's friendly between the two sides.

"Sevilla is a great club, and that's how I felt when I played there," said Kiyotake, who also highlighted the "world-class players" who play for his former club and the good season that the team have had under Jorge Sampaoli's leadership, after they finished fourth in LaLiga.

"It's an honour to be able to play against them and an opportunity for the young players, because you can learn a lot", added the Japanese international, who spoke to the media today at the Cerezo Osaka base alongside Sevilla FC marketing director, Ramón Loarte. The latter was present at the event organised by the Japanese side ahead of the friendly set to take place on 17 July in Osaka (in the west of Japan).

The marketing director spoke to SFC Radio before returning to Seville, and spoke of the importance of appreciating "the awareness of the Sevilla FC brand and of the team, of what they have done, in Japan. An awareness that we have seen growing given Hiroshi Kiyotake's participation until January, a real star here. He conveyed to me his appreciation of the love he received from all the Sevilla fans, from the club and from the city. That has contributed to the fact that all the negotiations that we have been carrying out for over a year have gone well. And this match is the culmination... but we hope that it's just the beginning of the increasingly international exposure for Sevilla FC in this part of the world".

Loarte continued: “The club has the chance to train and play at magnificent facilities that we’ve examined meticulously. They’re received a lot of care and considerable investment. We’ve got to give the best of ourselves in the two arranged games, against Cerezo Osaka – who are fourth in their league – and Kashima Antlers – who have been the best team in the country in recent years. We’ve got to bring Sevilla FC’s magic, our football, our way of playing and leave a good impression for the Japanese supporters to see. As such, we will keep establishing a long term relationship that will give us good a good return personally, professionally and economically.

“[The party have been] very happy to have us here, knowing the difficulties of bringing a first team squad so far. They know of the care that Sevilla have put into this project and have welcomed us with open arms. The games are going to receive a lot of media attention which will make things difficult in both games. They know that Sevilla are one of the best sides in Europe and play very good football, so they know that they’ll have to give their all to compete at our level."

Sevilla have a training camp in Japan scheduled between July 13 and July 23, with the game against J-League champions Kashima Antlers to be played on July 22.