While Urawa Reds storm up the J. League table after a disastrous start to the season, one former player is quietly rebuilding his own reputation abroad with slightly less fanfare.
For Shinji Ono, just seeing regular first-team action in a European league is a triumph in itself. Ono, once the golden boy of Japanese soccer after making the 1998 World Cup squad at the age of 18, found his career at a crossroads at the beginning of this year.
The midfielder returned to the J. League with Reds at the start of 2006, hoping to regain form and fitness in time for the World Cup after a 4 1/2-year spell with Feyenoord in the Netherlands.