Another Chinese player, Sun Jihai, plays for Manchester City. When Everton played Manchester City on Jan. 1, it was dubbed the ``China Derby.''
An Inter Milan sports store is scheduled to open this month in Tokyo, fruit of a five-year deal the club signed with Japanese sports retailer JSV. The retailer has a similar partnership with Manchester United, the NBA and American Major League Baseball.
Soccer's popularity in Japan got a boost five years ago when Nakata arrived in Serie A with Perugia. He later moved to Roma and is now a regular starter with Parma. So it was no surprise that Italy was the most popular foreign team at last year's World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Even the relatively modest Belgian league has recognized the commercial pulling power of Asian players. At defending champion Racing Genk, Japan's Takayuki Suzuki is among the team's most popular players; as well known for his ``blonde-bomber'' hair style as his playing skill.
Genk's shirt sponsor is Nitto Europe, part of Japan's Nitto Denko Corp, an industrial and electronics producer.
Connections
``An important reason for us to sign Suzuki is that our main sponsors have their headquarters in Japan,'' club president Jos Vaesen said. ``But this is no act just to satisfy our sponsors. Suzuki is a very talented player.''
The Japanese, Chinese and South Korean World Cup teams were coached by Europeans, coaches who encouraged players to hone their skills with European clubs.
But none of the Asians play with elite sides such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United or AC Milan.
Prominent Spanish soccer writer Jose Samano isn't convinced.
``There are not many Asian players in Spain because simply they are not good enough,'' the El Pais journalist said. ``Asia is nothing more than an incipient market. The reasons for signing players from Japan or South Korea are more to with marketing than talent.
``Real Madrid would never sign an Asian player for that reason because it already has players with marketing potential like Ronaldo or Zidane. And if you look at all the big clubs, none of them have Asian players.''
Biancheri, the Monaco official, suggested Asians may need a bit more time to reach their potential in Europe. ``It is more difficult for Asian players to adapt quickly,'' he said, citing the physical nature of European soccer and language and lifestyle changes.
But Inamoto has his way, the World Cup was only the beginning.
``I don't want to be known as Inamoto, the guy who did well at the World Cup,'' the Fulham midfielder said.
``I also want to establish myself as a good player in Europe.''
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