Honda is still Japan’s driving force

Coming from a sporting family that includes a footballer, canoeist and professional wrestler, it seems fitting that Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda has risen to become one of the most recognised faces in the nation’s sporting fraternity.

The versatile attacking midfielder has been representing his country since 2008, racking up 36 goals in 93 games, but to a wider audience he is probably best-known for his three years with Italian giants AC Milan from 2014-17, where he excelled in the midfield and on the wing — holding up the ball, breaking quickly, possessing a ferocious drive and being a dead-ball specialist.

He honed his skills as a youngster at Nagoya Grampus, the Japanese club where Arsenal once famously plucked a coach going by the name of Arsene Wenger. After three years with the club, in 2007 he earned a break with a move to Eredivise side VVV-Venlo.

His first experience of football in Europe was not the best as Venlo were relegated only six months after he joined. However, his determination was clear even at that early stage of his career as he stayed on at the club to help them regain promotion to the Dutch top flight, scoring 16 goals and earning the nickname ‘Kaizer Keisuke’ among appreciative Venlo supporters.

It was during this time that he made his international breakthrough, picking up the first of his Japan caps in 2008 in a World Cup qualifier against Bahrain, his first step on a Japan career that saw him play at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and he was player of the tournament in the side that won the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

His exploits at Venlo did not go unnoticed and he sealed a move to Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow in 2009, helping them to a domestic treble in 2012-13 and racking up goals and assists aplenty.

Next came the move to Milan in 2014 and while goals were inevitably harder to come by in the Serie A but he still played his part as they reached the Coppa Italia final in 2016 and won the Supercoppa the same year.

The pinnacle of his international career has to be winning the 2011 Asian Cup, where Japan defeated Australia in the final in Doha. He only scored one goal in the tournament but his ability to control a game earned him the man of the match award in the semi-final against South Korea.

The 2015 incarnation of the Asian Cup was not so kind to Honda. He scored three goals in the tournament before his missed spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out meant they lost 5-4 to the UAE in the quarter-finals.

His ability to bounce back and his dependability in the middle of the field mean he should he the one pulling the strings for Akira Nishino’s side in Russia.