Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima has brought something money can’t buy with him to Dundee United.
That priceless piece of treasure is his actual experience of having beaten relegation despite looking doomed.
The date was March 20, 2011 and Kawashima was in goal for Belgian club Lierse at home to Club Brugge.
He played superbly to keep the more fancied opposition at bay that day to secure a 0-0 draw, with the valuable point enough to keep Lierse out of the play-off and in the Belgian Pro League for another season.
Kawashima, who was officially presented to the media at Tannadice yesterday despite making his debut in last Saturday’s Dundee derby, finds himself smack-bang in the middle of another fight for survival as United languish 11 points adrift of second-bottom Kilmarnock in the Premiership.
It looks like a lost cause but if there is one man at Tannadice who will keep believing the Tangerines can stay up it is their new number one.
Looking back on a league campaign in which Lierse spent 22 of 30 weeks in the relegation play-off zone, Kawashima said: “I can’t remember exactly how many points we were behind at any one time but I think it was really clear that we were down.
“It was really a miracle that we stayed up.
“I learned something from that experience.
“It was really just about building up points gradually and we were able to reduce the gap on the team above us (Eupen).
“You don’t win all the games in this type of situation but it is important you keep picking up points and then you are able to compete with the others.
“We needed one point to stay up and it also depended on how our rivals were getting on.
“Eupen lost and we survived because we drew 0-0 with Brugge.
“It was a very tense game.”
Asked if he felt he could have chosen an easier task than he has done in joining United, Kawashima replied: “I am not the sort of person who looks for the easy way.
“I had been waiting six months just to get on to the pitch and I could have made other choices.
“I could have gone back to Japan just to play or I could have found another Belgian team but I wanted to find another experience in Europe.
“You have to believe, not only the situation with Dundee United, but with everything.
“We can’t say what will happen at the end of the season but we have to believe.
“I can bring my experience to the group but I am also looking to learn.
“Coming here will bring new things to me and my career.
“I feel I can succeed in this challenge here with Dundee United.”
Kawashima has had to be patient during the two months or so it has taken to process his work permit.
He even had to take an English test to meet the entry criteria despite speaking the language perfectly well.
More importantly, he missed the arrival of his son Kensei because he was travelling back to his homeland from Scotland on the day of the birth.
He said: “Yes, I did (miss the birth) but, fortunately, I could see him the day after he was born.
“It was unfortunate that I had to wait for the work permit but that did mean I could spend the time with my son and with my family in Japan.
As for his excellent English, he revealed it has already been put to the test.
“When I arrived in Dundee for my first day I spoke with my taxi driver,” added Kawashima.
“He was very difficult to understand!
“Now, though, it’s OK and I speak away with my teammates and everybody understands everyone.”