Japanese mother,Gujarati father,Pune wife,Indian football

Thats what fires Arata Izumi,star of Pune FC who says he will give up his Japanese passport so that he can try his foot for a place in Team India.

When Arata Izumi was eight,his Indian father walked out one day,leaving him with his Japanese mother. Its been 20 years since then and Arata isnt too keen to talk about the father who is,at best,a fleeting memory. The father was from Gujarat,is all that he says. But question him about his latest Indian connection and his eyes light up.

After being a professional footballer with Pune Football Club (Pune FC),its foreign signing at the start of the 2009 season,the 28-year-old fell for the teams physio Shweta Manerikar. They were engaged in Japan,got married in Pune earlier this year and now the Yamaguchi-born mid-fielder,who is known on the I-League circuit for his pace and mean left-foot,says he wants to play for Indias national team.

I will give up my Japanese passport and I am in the process of applying for an Indian passport as I want to represent the Indian football team, says Arata. He is honest to add that the decision had a lot to do with his wife and with the fact that he has little chance of being part of the highly competitive Japan team ranked 29 in the world.

Its been a long journey for Arata before he landed in Pune and decided to settle here. After struggling to get a break in the J-League,he left his country of birth to join top Singapore club Albirex Niigata. A year later,in 2006,he shifted base to Japan and joined the Division 1 side Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima FC.

On an impulse,he shifted base to India and spent a year each with East Bengal and Mahindra United. Not getting a chance in the playing XI and finding Kolkatas traffic jams and Mumbais fast pace not to his liking,Arata moved to Pune when the city got an I-League club in 2009. His eight goals in Pune FCs debut season,saw the team making an instant impact on the Indian football circuit by finishing third in the league.

Arata was a star now,something he had only dreamed of when he took up serious football at 10. His mother,who married her co-worker at the Air India office in Yamaguchi,encouraged him to develop an interest in football as she tried to fill the void left behind by her husband. She was the first to spot my passion for football. My aunt and grandmother,who moved in with us after my father left,were also a huge help. They made us a family again,he says.

Since landing in India,Arata hasnt made any attempt to trace his father. I am not even interested, is his curt reply when asked. His mother has been religiously making an annual trip to India to be with his son. Wife Shweta says that Arata has fallen in love with India. He has picked up a bit of Hindi and Marathi, she says. And in case Arata gets a new passport and a place in the national team,his Indian connection will be well and truly reinforced.