10 Mar 2005(Thu)

TOKYO (March 9): Zico will announce his squad for the Iran and Bahrain World Cup qualifiers on Monday, and the big question is: Will Nakata return?

Hidetoshi, I mean, not Koji, who, admittedly, has been getting more headlines than his more famous namesake lately.

Although Japan have done well without the Fiorentina midfielder in recent months, winning the Asian Cup in China and all their World Cup qualifiers, I think the time is right to bring back the former Bellmare Hiratsuka ace.

Against North Korea at Saitama last month, Japan clearly lacked leadership in the middle of the park and someone with big-match experience to hold the team together.

This is where Nakata comes in.

He has developed into a natural leader with his allround ability and Italian experience, and, in my opinion, is still the best Japanese player by a considerable distance.

He is also fearless, not just physically in the tackle but mentally, too, and this will be an important factor in Tehran, where Japan can expect to face 120,000 excitable Iranians as well as a talented team.

Although Nakata did not play for Firoentina at the weekend, spending all the match against Reggina on the bench, this should not be a problem.

This is because the squad leaves Japan on March 17 for Frankfurt, where they will train until March 22. On that day they transfer to Tehran, and then train for two more days before the showdown on Friday, March 25.

This gives Zico plenty of time to work with the players, and find a system to integrate the "Europeans."

Japan will need Nakata in Tehran, where Zico's team could be very different from the one that struggled against North Korea.

I would like to see Zico stick with his 3-5-2 formation, and play Nakata in the central playmaker's role, behind the two strikers, but I fear he may change to 4-4-2 and try and play all his "Galacticos" in midfield.

Regarding the captaincy, I think Miyamoto should be retained, as he is an intelligent, influential leader.

Also, Nakata has enough responsibility as playmaker without the additional burden of captaincy/coach.

ends