Word: inamoto
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...popular strategy for winning new fans and selling merchandise is to hire a favorite son with his own loyal following. Japanese imports like Hidoshi Nakata (Bologna) and Shinji Ono (Feyenoord) have helped their European clubs hawk souvenirs and attract Asian tourists. Through the end of last year, midfielder Junichi Inamoto (left) has helped English team Fulham earn $3.7 million in merchandise sales and television rights in Japan...
...JUNICHI INAMOTO, 22, JAPAN Signed by English club Arsenal last season, he saw little top-tier action. But the midfielder turned his fortunes around at World Cup 2002, scoring two goals. That seems to have restored the faith of the European marketplace in him?Perugia and England's Fulham are said to be interested. VALUE: Holding steady at $6 million...
...level, Japan has tried other team-building tactics, including employing a psychologist, Kazushige Toyoda, for the youth team. Toyoda specializes in the practice of qi, which supposedly unleashes the body's inner powers. Among those he trained was the national team's striker, the bleach blond, baby-faced Junichi Inamoto?the talk of Japan last week after he scored the winning goal in Japan's 1-0 victory over Russia and contributed another in a 2-2 draw with Belgium. In early qi sessions, Inamoto "was a little shy, a little modest and somewhat negative," says Toyoda, who also counsels...
...Miyamoto is so hyperkinetic it's a wonder he hasn't broken more than his nose, which was injured during a practice game and now requires the protection of a leather mask. On offense, Shinji Ono supplies the fancy footwork and sets up the pair of fair-haired attackers?Inamoto and the slightly disheveled beach bum of the two, Takayuki Suzuki...
...Inamoto is the action hero who at the moment resonates most deeply with fans. The Japanese nation has been unable to rev up its faltering economy, and likewise Inamoto has struggled recently. Signed last year in a high-profile deal by Arsenal in England's Premiership, the 22-year-old midfielder saw little action and suffered the ignominy of relegation to the club's reserves. He reportedly has been released by Arsenal. His redemption, then, was sweet (especially because Arsenal's coach, Arsene Wenger, was in the stands watching) as he scored Japan's first World Cup goal, against Belgium...