Japan education pushing Jason Davidson in front for Socceroos start

Jason Davidson has his nose in front of Aziz Behich for the starting left-back role in the Asian Cup final, and according to his father, former Socceroo Alan, he is reaping the benefits of lessons learned by leaving home at an young age.

The 23-year-old was short of match fitness after struggling for game time at his club West Bromwich Albion but is now considered a likely chance of starting in the final after scoring his first international goal in the 2-0 semi-final win over the UAE on Tuesday night. Despite starting the Asian Cup from the bench and playing just once in the group stage, Davidson overcame the disadvantage of less game time, which his father says stems from the determination and discipline learned from his education in Japan.

At the age of 14, Davidson went against the initial wishes of his mother by deciding to leave Australia to join the Seiritsu Gakuen school, which focuses on athletic education and in particular football. For three months, he was not allowed to speak to his family over the phone or contact them via the internet, as the school placed a strong emphasis on testing youngsters' mental strength during their early years.

"He always had aspirations to be a professional footballer, but I didn't know how much he wanted to be a professional footballer until I took him to Japan," Alan said. "He fell in love with the culture and the football there, but he didn't speak a word of Japanese and they didn't speak English. It wasn't easy for him."

Alan, a 79-time capped Socceroo, was hesitant to allow his son to move to Japan and preferred Jason to focus on his education before pursuing his dreams of a football career abroad. However, he believes the hardships of moving overseas, learning a new language, living in a new culture and succeeding are the main attributes that led to him starring in this tournament. "He was going to Melbourne Grammar, so education was important to us. It was a great opportunity to learn a new culture and my mother is Japanese. It was the values that they have, like hard work and discipline. He was the one who wanted to go and it wasn't me, I never pushed Jason to do anything but it was up to him and he had the final decision," Alan said.

Jason acknowledged the difficulty in winning back his place from the World Cup and vowed to repay the faith shown from Ange Postecoglou, who gave him another chance despite making only two league appearances since moving to West Brom.

"I think I've copped a bit of criticism back home because I haven't been playing and I've been picked in the Asian Cup, and I'm just thankful for Ange, who has kept his faith in me, and he's given me the opportunity whenever it arose in the Asian Cup," Jason said.

His performances haven't gone unnoticed, with both his club and the English Premier League sharing footage of his goal and results on social media sites. With the arrival of new coach Tony Pulis at the Hawthorns, Davidson is hopeful another three days of hard work and a subsequent performance will have a knock-on effect upon his return to England. "It's pleasing to see that they're still showing interest even though I haven't played that many games and, like you said, it's a new gaffer, a new chance and I have spoken to the club. As soon as the final's over I head back to England and it's back to square one, where I have to work hard and fight for a starting spot," Jason said.