27 May 2004(Thu)

When asked for his comments on a certain individual, Philippe Troussier would always reply: "Yes, he's a very interesting player."

And that was before Troussier had come into contact with a certain Yoshito Okubo.

The Cerezo Osaka forward is, indeed, a very interesting player.

I like to study him during games, although I am not as fanatical as the female Cerezo Osaka fan who was sitting near me at Ichihara Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With her pink "Okubo 10" shirt, she moved around the grandstand with her camera to get a better angle to photograph her young hero.

At the beginning of the match she was sitting right in front of me, but she quickly moved. At first I thought it was my after-shave lotion, but then I realized she was on "Yoshito Patrol."

After the game I spoke with Cerezo's Croatian coach, Albert Pobor, who described Okubo as "an excellent talent."

He said Okubo should leave for Europe, where he could play at any level and not just sit on the bench like so many of his fellow Japanese exports.

Pobor even said he thought Okubo was a more talented player than Hidetoshi Nakata.

"Nakata is another big player, a great player, but I think Okubo is a bigger talent than Nakata," said the Cerezo manager. "He's very fast, has good technique, he's young...he's got everything."

Very interesting, indeed.

Personally, while admiring Okubo's talent and single-mindedness in front of goal, I think he still has a lot to learn from Nakata about how to conduct himself on and off the pitch.

Nakata is composed, focused and plays with discipline. Okubo looks to have calmed down a lot since last season, which is a good thing, but at the same time you don't want him to lose his fire and his passion.

Just as long as it's channelled in the right direction.

At one point during Saturday's match at Ichihara, Okubo, having failed to get past his marker, Sakamoto, on the right wing, but having still won a corner, he threw the ball angrily at the corner flag. (Or maybe he was aiming for the linesman!)

That reaction is fine (throwing the ball at the corner flag I mean), as it showed he cared and it showed his winning spirit.

Nakata made the perfect move from Japan, to modest Perugia, where he was easily good enough to get in the team, so let's see what happens to Okubo after the Olympic Games.

As Troussier would have said, "Okubo....yes, he's a very interesting player."

But more talented than Nakata?

We'll have to wait and see.

ends