Hometown Hero

Fou

r years ago, Japan made its first World Cup appearance, played hard and managed not to embarrass itself—or win any games. This time, the hometown fans expect Japan to do more than just show up. A nation's pride is on the line, and its hopes rest in large part on one man—Shinji Ono, the team's 22-year-old midfield sensation.

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.

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Last year, Ono made the leap from the domestic J. League to the Netherlands' first division, joining Feyenoord in Rotterdam. Small and slender (he weighs 74 kg after a big lunch), Ono seemed a poor fit for the Netherlands' intensely physical league. But with his shaved head, handsome grin and fancy footwork, he quickly turned skeptics into believers and emerged as one of the club's top players. Now when he runs onto the pitch, the fans stand and serenade him, singing "O-no, O-no" to the tune of a 1990s techno hit.

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."