2010 World Cup Player Profiles: Keisuke Honda, Japan’s Rising Sun

His sick left foot. Also, if you’re a Caucasian American, there’s about a 50-50 chance you just like anything Japanese.

Despite making five figures per week, he uses “Just For Men” to dye his hair.

Keisuke Honda’s various atrocious hairstyles rival David Beckham, but he’s probably better known for cutting in from the right side and scoring goals with his big left foot. He’s also known for his great free kicks, although he’s unlikely to get an opportunity to showcase that skill for Japan if Shunsuke Nakamura is on the field. He’s certainly got a professional athlete’s pedigree; his older brother was a footballer whose career ended due to injury and both his uncle and cousin were Olympians.

Honda started his professional career with Nagoya Grampus. He was handed his professional debut in 2005 at the age of 19. Honda quickly became one of the biggest young stars in the J-League and eventually moved on to VVV-Venlo in Holland. They were relegated as he adjusted to the new league and style of play, but in the 2008-2009 season he netted 16 goals in Holland’s second division and was named Eerste Divisie MVP.

After looking dominant for the first half of his second year in the Eredivisie, Honda was bought by Russian giants CSKA Moscow for 6 million Euros. Early in his career for them he has impressed with two goals in his first seven league matches, plus a goal in the UEFA Champions League.

Keisuke Honda is likely to start in a right attacking midfield role for Japan. You’re likely to see them deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation with midfielders Yashuhito Endo and Makoto Hasebe sitting in front of the back line, Honda wide right, Shunsuke Nakamura wide left, Kengo Nakamura in the middle, and Keiji Tamada or Shinji Okazaki up top.

Honda is going to be a big part of Japan’s attack and he will be looking to create for his teammates as well as look for opportunities to unload on a shot with his left foot. While he starts on the right wing, don’t be surprised if you see Honda roam around a little bit to find his opportunities.

Two of Japan’s opponents in the World Cup group stages, Holland and Cameroon, have serious questions at the back, so we might be in for a show.

Simply put, this guy can score. He can score from dead balls with his left, he can score from long range from open play with his left, and I’ve seen him score with his right and his head a fair amount of times too. Honda has some pretty sick dribbling skills to boot. His teammates are all technically and tactically sound players, so that’s only going to help his best attributes shine through.

If you still don’t believe that Honda and Japan’s games are going to be worth watching, look him up on Youtube. You won’t be disappointed.

If there is one thing Kevin McCauley likes more than the word “brat” it’s a great Japanese footballer. Get more of this writer and broadcaster’s content at ATFooty.com.