Hometown Hero
Fou
At home, they call him "The Natural." Ono grew up in Shizuoka prefecture, known as the cradle of Japanese football for producing top players such as goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. A child prodigy, Ono was named as a 13-year-old to the under-16 national team, which won the Asian championship in 1994. As a pro for Japan's Urawa Reds, he was rookie of the year in 1998. And at 18, he secured his first national cap in the '98 World Cup.
|
|
In the Netherlands, Ono has learned to play more aggressively and against tougher competition. "Before, I only had the opportunity to see big-name players on TV," he says. "Now I am close to reaching their level." Ono's toughening up has pleased his national coach, Philippe Troussier, who gripes that "everything is made too easy" for young footballers in Japan. Still, having seen the foreign talent up close, Ono knows that Japan can expect only modest success in this World Cup. "Japanese football has improved dramatically over the past 10 years," he says. "But it is difficult to say how much. The focus of our team and the Japanese people this time is we have to win a match. At least one."
Most Popular »
- The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell
- Sex, Please, We're British: London's Erotica Expo
- The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
- California Judge Challenging Obama on Gay Rights
- Obama's 'Mistakes': Way Too Early to Judge
- Zhu Zhu Mania: Hamster Toys Are Ruling Christmas
- Toilets
- The Fall of Greg Craig, Obama's Top Lawyer
- Woman Loses Benefits over Facebook Photo
- East Antarctica, Long Stable, Is Now Losing Ice
- The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
- Zhu Zhu Mania: Hamster Toys Are Ruling Christmas
- The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell
- Obama's 'Mistakes': Way Too Early to Judge
- California Judge Challenging Obama on Gay Rights
- Toilets
- Sex, Please, We're British: London's Erotica Expo
- Will Private Equity Be the Next Meltdown?
- East Antarctica, Long Stable, Is Now Losing Ice
- The Dark Side of Darwin's Legacy







RSS