Homare Sawa got MVP prize by FIFA for 2011. It’s a nice news for her and football fans in Japan, too.

It’s a little strange that she is now a very famous football player in spite that there hardly were Japanese people who knew her before the world cup of 2011.

But it’s a beautiful story to know how she got today’s fame.

In Japan, women football were always under fiscally hard status.  Even the national team players work for temporary jobs or part time workers.

A player in the team needed to work as a bath washer every day to keep her football life.  Her income was under 20,000 USD then but she wanted to play football even if she was so poor.  I read something like that in a magazine in Japan.

Homare Sawa was a top player of Japan but with no exception, she was also living hard with small income before the world cup of  2011.  They say their life was not miserable because they were happy as along as they could play football.

In that sense, Japanese national women football team were like part time workers’ team.

Now I think the financial condition of women players  got a little better, but still it’s bad compared to male teams, or compared to just a normal women workers of Japan.

Because we knew this fact through media information when we watched the games of world cup 2011, all the Japanese were really teary about their honor.  They, players, wanted mental satisfaction of achievement, not the money, status, or fame.

Now Homare Sawa deserves receiving MVP prize.

As she worked hard and she gave us joy through the games,  she also should earn more.  It’s truly natural for the result of pursuit.