8 Apr 2004(Thu)

It's no wonder that 15-year-old striker Takayuki Morimoto is being called the "Japanese Ronaldo" after bursting on to the J.League scene this season with Tokyo Verdy 1969.

With his shaven head, tall frame and quick-step running style, he looks a lot like a younger, slimmer Ronaldo.

He plays a bit like him, too, although by now Ronaldo would have scored five or six goals in three appearances for Verdy.

I saw Morimoto play for the first time in the flesh, so to speak, against FC Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium on Saturday.

Like most people, I liked what I saw.

He is strong and fast, like Ronaldo. He can beat his defender easily with his quick feet, like Ronaldo. And he knows where the goal is, like Ronaldo.

Unlike Ronaldo, though, Morimoto's shots have been saved. This is, of course, not a criticism of Morimoto, because he looks extremely promising for a teenager. It is just to highlight why Ronaldo is known as "The Phenomenom," because he is truly an amazing talent.

After Saturday's game I had a chat with Morimoto's rather more experienced strike partner, the 33-year-old father-of-five Patrick Mboma.

Patrick was already 17 years old when Morimoto was born, but still a long way from the respected figure he is today in African and world football.

"Like everybody I think he is a good player, but he also has a little pressure on him because everybody is talking about him," Mboma said.

"I advise him to be careful about this situation.

"When you start to play and play good, everybody says that you are the best, the most beautiful, and so on. So he has to keep his concentration and he has to focus on the game and on his training and try to learn every day."

Although Morimoto was substituted after 70 minutes and Verdy lost 3-2, the teenager was still the center of attention after the game.

Mboma, a former African Player of the Year, could not fail to spot the commotion in the lobby of Ajinomoto Stadium.

"I advise him not to read the newspapers, because it is always difficult," said Mboma.

"When you play good and they talk positive it's okay, but when that is not the case you start to have doubts in your mind.

"It is important for him to forget that and just focus on what he has to do on the pitch."

Mboma was making his first appearance of the season Saturday after a knee operation, and at the end of a week in which his wife had given birth to their fifth child, a daughter called Kaena.

"It's Hebrew and means rebel...because there is not enough rebellion in Japan," explained Mboma, with a laugh.

ends