9 Jan 2003(Thu)

One player is never more important than the team.

But in the case of Sanfrecce Hiroshima, center forward Tatsuhiko Kubo would make a huge difference when they try to make a swift return to J1 next season after being relegated on the last day of last season.

At the moment, Kubo is undecided on his future.

He has been offered a new contract by Sanfrecce, but he is also attracting the interest of several J1 clubs, notably Yokohama F Marinos.

So far he has not said what he's doing, and this offers Sanfrecce a glimmer of hope that he might stay in Hiroshima.

Club official Shigeru Manabe explains: "Kubo has been a very good player for us and we want him to stay with Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

"This is why the club president, the coaching staff and his teammates are trying to persuade him to stay, but of course we have information that several teams are trying to get him."

Kubo is the spearhead of the Sanfrecce team, and has scored 67 league goals since making his debut in April 1996.

He is powerful in the air, fast and fearless, and was very unlucky not to win a place in Philippe Troussier's 23-strong World Cup squad.

I would have picked him ahead of Akinori Nishizawa.

Kubo was never going to be a first-choice player at the World Cup, but he would have offered something different, something unpredictable, coming off the bench.

Against Turkey, for example, when nothing was working for Japan, a fresh and hungry Kubo might just have brought a reward in the second half.

We'll never know now, of course, but Kubo certainly has a lot to offer.

Jubilo Iwata are another club interested in signing him, as a replacement for Naohiro Takahara, especially as Masashi Nakayama is not getting any younger.

Kubo works hard off the ball, just like Takahara, and could form an effective partnership with Nakayama.

And playing in a talented Jubilo team, there would not be as much pressure on Kubo to score goals as there was at Hiroshima.

Off the field, though, Kubo is a quiet character and prefers a quiet life, and he may yet decide to stay in Hiroshima with his young family and try and take them back into J1 at the first time of asking.

There is also a huge question mark against the future of Kubo's teammate, Chikara Fujimoto, who, on his day, is a very clever and bright creative player.

He may be joining Nagoya Grampus Eight, though, as the Toyota-powered team looks for more invention and flair in midfield.

So these are troubled times for Sanfrecce, despite the excellent signing of the Brazilian veteran Cesar Sampaio from Kashiwa Reysol.

Whether Kubo and Fujimoto will be alongside him next season remains to be seen.

ends