GA_googleAddSlot("ca-pub-1197233282945943", "Star_Sports_Skyscraper");

Sports

Thursday July 5, 2007

Hooped Ninja takes aim at third straight Cup glory

HANOI: Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura is taking aim at a third straight Asian Cup for Japan and himself with the dead-ball artistry that has earned him respect in European football.

“The level of Asia is rising and Japan must get ahead of them,” urged the most valuable player of the 2004 Asian Cup.

“As you know, it will be a battle of pride.”

Nakamura: Powered Celtic to clinch their second straight Scottish Premier League title. – Reuters
Japan coach Ivica Osim has called up Nakamura, who powered Celtic to clinch their second straight Scottish Premier League title coupled with the 2006-2007 Scottish Cup, only three times in his last 10 internationals.

But the left-footed 29-year-old, along with Frankfurt striker Naohiro Takahara, has managed to gel with a national team dominated by J-League stars, and he is likely to be one of the players of the tournament.

“I will run more next time and give what I have, boosting coordination with the team,” Nakamura said after a scoreless draw against Colombia in Japan’s last Asian Cup warm-up match this month.

Osim has demanded his players play flexible roles since he took the helm after their early exit from Germany 2006, and that includes Nakamura.

“What he needs to improve is the speed of his play,” the demanding Osim said when Nakamura set up two goals in a recent 2-0 friendly win over Peru.

Modestly built at 178cm (5ft 10ins), the former Yokohama Marino player has been criticised for his physical weakness, one of the reasons that kept him out of the 2002 World Cup Finals on home turf.

But he toughened himself up with three years at Serie-A club Reggina before moving to Glasgow in mid-2005.

Last September, the “Hooped Ninja”, as he is known, scored a 22m free kick in a 3-2 defeat of Manchester United at Old Trafford to become the first Japanese to score in the European Champions League.

Back in Scotland in November, he curled in a 30m effort to lift Celtic into the last-16 knockout phase of the competition for the first time.

And on April 22, Nakamura’s injury-time free kick led to a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at home, sealing Celtic’s 41st league championship and earning him a place in Celtic folklore. – AFP

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story

Sports Poll