Japan´s Uchida eager to start with Schalke

Japanese defender Atsuto Uchida who has joined German club Schalke 04 after the World Cup turned up several weeks early for training on Tuesday, saying he was eager to get started.

Asked why he was not taking the three weeks holiday allowed him after the World Cup, Uchida said he wanted to get into the swing of things.

“I don’t need that much holiday. I would rather get acclimatised and established as quickly as possible,” he said in an interview posted on the club’s Internet site.

“In Japan, we play a lot of games, but don’t have a special training regime. In Germany a lot of attention is given to fitness. For me that means building my body so that I can really make a difference here,” he said.

Asked about his knowledge of German, Uchida said he has already picked up a few words in Japan.

“My aim is to get rid of my interpreter as quickly as possible, though that’s not meant personally. I want to think like a German. I hope to get something out of it in human terms as well”.

J-League outfit Kashima Antlers announced last month they had agreed a transfer deal with the Bundesliga powerhouse for the 22-year-old.

The three-year deal, starting on July 1, guarantees him an estimated annual salary of two million euros (2.4 million dollars), a record for a Japanese player, according to the Japanese daily Sports Hochi.

The transfer fee was estimated at 1.4 million euros.

“I could have played for other European clubs, but when I was asked by (Schalke trainer) Felix Magath, I only had one answer ‘Hai, yes”, he said.

Uchida helped Kashima clinched a third-straight J-League title last season. He has scored three goals in 124 matches for Kashima and been capped 31 times by Japan coach Takeshi Okada since January 2008, scoring one goal.

Schalke came second last season in Germany’s Bundesliga, behind Bayern Munich.