12 Jan 2003(Sun)

One of the biggest disappointments of Japan's 2002 World Cup was the comments of midfielder Kazuyuki Toda after the defeat by Turkey.

Toda said on TV that he never wanted to see Philippe Troussier again. Many Japanese friends have informed me of this, and I must admit I was shocked by his words.

After all, Troussier gave Toda his big chance.

Toda made his debut for Japan against Canada on May 31, 2001, in the Confederations Cup at Niigata.

His combative qualities, and his ability to break up opposition attacks, made him a mainstay in Japan's midfield engine room, alongside Junichi Inamoto.

Toda played every minute of all four Japan games at the World Cup, and won praise from Hidetoshi Nakata on his own website.

Yes, I believe Toda should have been grateful to Troussier for giving him his big chance, and also that Toda owed him a debt of gratitude.

Hopefully the fact that Troussier's successor, Zico, ignored Toda for his first two games may have humbled the S-Pulse midfielder.

Anyway, the point of this article is that Toda now has a chance to join Japan's European contingent. He has been invited to Sunderland for a two-week trial, and clearly wants to stay.

He did not have a happy season last year due to a bad relationship with S-Pulse's manager at the time, Zdravko Zemunovic.

But the situation is much brighter now with this offer from Sunderland.

I know Sunderland well, and reported on many matches there when I was working for a newspaper in the north-east of England. It is one of the coldest parts of England, but the fire and the passion of fans in the north-east is the greatest.

They quickly work out who can play and who can't, and whose heart is in it and who is not showing enough effort.

Toda can be guaranteed to give his all, but whether he has the ability to make the grade at such a high level remains to be seen.

The pace of the Premiership is several gears higher than the J.League and also than international football. Toda will not have time to dwell on the ball like he does in Japan, as he will be tackled heavily and quickly.

In Toda's position, the Premiership has the likes of Roy Keane at Manchester United, Patrick Vieira at Arsenal and Salif Diao at Liverpool, who are all world-class players.

Toda may be able to impress Sunderland manager Howard Wilkinson with his attitude and effort in training, but if he plays in a practice match he will quickly have to adapt to the speed and the power of the English game.

I still think he was wrong to say what he did about Troussier, but wish him well in his quest to improve himself as a player.

ends