Junichi Inamoto was one of the major reasons for Japan's journey to the second round. He even overshadowed his midfield teammate, Parma's Hidetoshi Nakata, scoring twice, including the winner against Russia in a first round group game.
Inamoto signed for English Premier League outfit Arsenal, back in July 2001 for around six million dollars. His transfer created a lot of media interest, after three successful seasons with Japan's Gamba Osaka. However, his time with the Galas hasn't gone to plan, he started only four competitive games all season.
Inamoto: Playing for a big team, I knew from the beginning that I wouldn't be playing first team games. I would be starting off on the reserves. This hasn't affected my motivation at all. Playing in the reserves is a good experience and I hope it will help me to improve my game.
He's obviously disappointed with Japan's second round exit at the World Cup, but memories of Japan's Asian Cup success in 2000 are far sweeter.
Inamoto: Winning the Asian Cup required a huge amount of effort, and helped us to realize how tough it is to play international football. From then on, we focused on playing not only Asian but World football.
Inamoto signed for English Premier League outfit Arsenal, back in July 2001 for around six million dollars. His transfer created a lot of media interest, after three successful seasons with Japan's Gamba Osaka. However, his time with the Galas hasn't gone to plan, he started only four competitive games all season.
Inamoto: Playing for a big team, I knew from the beginning that I wouldn't be playing first team games. I would be starting off on the reserves. This hasn't affected my motivation at all. Playing in the reserves is a good experience and I hope it will help me to improve my game.
He's obviously disappointed with Japan's second round exit at the World Cup, but memories of Japan's Asian Cup success in 2000 are far sweeter.
Inamoto: Winning the Asian Cup required a huge amount of effort, and helped us to realize how tough it is to play international football. From then on, we focused on playing not only Asian but World football.