Japanese Soccer

Japanese football has been producing a number of high profile players in recent years. Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa has been one of them. They have also been extremely good at producing high-quality strikers. Even though some of them have not been proved to the very top level, they have been slowly making an impact nonetheless. Albirex Niigata striker Kengo Kawamata has been one of them. Kawamata has so far not been part of Alberto Zaccheroni’s plans for the World Cup, but he has been one of the impressive Japanese strikers around.

He managed to score 23 goals in just 32 matches last season. Despite that, he has found himself nowhere near the Japanese first-team. The striker, though, is unconcerned about this aspect, as he simply wants to impress the manager and hope for the best. He is not looking to grab the World Cup place in the final minute. J-League players will be given a last chance to impress and get into the squad when they will be part of the camp in Brazil. Kawamata was part of the squad that took part in a 70 minute training session.

After the session, Kawamata said to reporters that he was just trying to learn the concept of playing under Zaccheroni.

“I want to show what I am made of and make an impression when we have a match on the final day of the camp. It wasn’t really full-on practice today, I just learned about the team concept. I was a bit hesitant at the start but gradually fitted in. It is my dream to play at the World Cup, but I am not looking at that just yet. I am just going to take each day as it comes here,” said the striker, whose team play in a friendly match against Cyprus at the end of May.