17 Jan 2005(Mon)

TOKYO (January 15): It was inevitable that Philippe Troussier would come looking for a Japanese player sooner or later for his new club in France, Olympique Marseille.

That player, as we now know, is Koji Nakata.

Nakata, of course, was one of Troussier's most important players in the build-up to the 2002 World Cup.

Despite playing all his career in midfield, Troussier saw something special in Koji and decided to put him on the left side of his three-man defence.

This happened first with the youth team, and only because Troussier's first choice in that position, Kaneko, collected a serious knee injury during a training camp at Burkina Faso.

Troussier picked out Nakata as Kaneko's replacement, and Koji did not let down the unforgiving French coach.

It was not easy for the Japanese players to adapt to Troussier's brusque and confrontational style of management, but Koji not only survived but flourished.

He was promoted from the under-20 team that won a silver medal at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria to the Olympic team for the Sydney Games and finally to the full national team.

If anything, Nakata--Koji, not Hidetoshi--was the new face of Japanese football, as Troussier rebuilt the team following the disappointment of France 98.

Troussier has not forgotten Nakata, and the Kashima Antlers star is now training with the Frenchman at Marseille.

Good luck to Koji, as he is a serious and model professional.

He has not had the best of luck with injuries recently, and, in my opinion, I think Zico did not use him as much as he should have done earlier in his reign when the midfield was packed with Japanese Galacticos but was in chaos.

Nakata is a general when he plays in midfield, controlling the flow and the pace of the game, and is a reliable, alert defender in the back three.

Troussier would not have taken Nakata to France if he did not think the player was of the required standard, and this should give Koji the confidence to make the difficult switch from J.League Comfort Zone to the intensity of Europe.

ends