2 Mar 2003(Sun)

There are no prizes for guessing who is the star of the show in the J.League's new pop song, to be released March 19.

And there are no prizes for guessing who is on the cover of the March edition of "Grun," the magazine for supporters of Nagoya Grampus Eight.

It's Chikara Fujimoto, of course.

Fujimoto's winter transfer from relegated Sanfrecce Hiroshima to Grampus was one of the major talking points of the off-season in Japan.

Because "Cheeky Chikara" is as bright and clever on the pitch as he is off it.

The pop song is entitled "We can fly," and the "boy band"-style video features Fujimoto along with several other J.League stars, including Koji Nakata, Eisuke Nakanishi, Hiroaki Morishima, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Masashi Nakayama.

Out of all of them, including even "Gon," Fujimoto looks the most natural in front of the TV camera, relaxed and confident and very expressive, just like he was when he was the chief guest on the Saturday night "Super Soccer" TV show.

I also remember arriving in Paris with the Japan national team for a couple of friendly matches, against Senegal and Nigeria, and Fujimoto was the main attraction for the waiting French and foreign media.

But that is only because they thought he was Hidetoshi Nakata!

The two do look alike, it's true, and Fujimoto just loved the limelight! He was not bothered at all that it was a case of mistaken identity.

Nagoya's Slovenian manager, Zdenko Verdenik, likes what he sees of Fujimoto.

"He has no problem to be included in our team," said the former JEF United Ichihara manager.

"He is a very good player. He has good ability, and understands very well how to play behind the two top. I think he is very important for us."

In the past, critics have pointed out that Fujimoto can play too much for himself and not for the team.

Again, Verdenik is aware of this.

"I have spoken to him about it, because I have seen that sometimes he wants to do too much alone.

"Now he is prepared to change and try to do more for the team."

Grampus fans will be hoping that Fujimoto is as big a hit on the field as he is in the video.

ends