Nakamura needs games at Espanyol: Japan coach

Japan coach Takeshi Okada said it was vital star midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura plays regularly at new club Espanyol so that he is in prime condition for next year’s World Cup.

“If you don’t play in matches, it is tough to keep up your playing instinct as well as your condition,” Okada said here Monday as the former Celtic star was unveiled before thousands of fans at Espanyol’s new stadium in Barcelona.

Okada said he would stick to his rule of calling up and using players who get enough time on the pitch with their clubs, Japanese media reported Tuesday.

But the coach praised the 31-year-old playmaker for making the move to the highly competitive Spanish league relatively late in his career.

“Even if he won’t be in good form at the World Cup in South Africa, his move will result in many positives in his life,” said Okada, who has relied on the left-footed master’s free-kicks in Japan’s qualifying matches.

Nakamura faces formidable competition at Espanyol from talent such as Ivan de la Pena and Luis Garcia, and in a league where a sprinkling of Japanese players have not fared well in the past.

Nakamura, who helped Japan book a fourth straight World Cup berth since their 1998 debut, changed his mind at the last minute about returning to his first club, J-League side Yokohama Marinos, after seven years in Europe.

He spent three years at Italy’s Reggina and four more at Celtic, helping the team win the Scottish premier league title three times.

Nakamura joined Espanyol on a two-year deal last month, with an annual wage estimated at 1.2 million euros (1.7 million dollars), after his contract with Celtic expired.

“For me the Spanish league has the best midfielders in the world and plays ideal football in my view. I have liked the league since I was small,” he said in Barcelona, according to Japanese media.

“The hurdles are high and there is a lot of pressure but once I am on that pitch I hope to give it my very best,” the 178cm (5ft10ins) player added. “I didn’t have time to build my body at Celtic and I will take care of that.”

Nakamura was greeted by hundreds of fans when he arrived in Barcelona for a medical Saturday and by over 6,000 at his presentation Monday.

Three Japanese players have failed to make much of an impression in La Liga before him — Shoji Jo at Real Valladolid in 1999-2000, Akinori Nishizawa at Espanyol in 2000-2001 and Yoshito Okubo at Mallorca 2004-2005.