If the J. League is looking for inspiration as it prepares to restart the season on Saturday, Shunsuke Nakamura knows more than a thing or two about triumph over adversity.
The Yokohama F. Marinos midfielder is one of hundreds of players getting ready to return to action this weekend, six weeks after the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast coast and cast the new J. League campaign into limbo with only one round of games played.
Nakamura, however, is more than just another player. A legend in Japanese soccer with 98 caps to his name and a bulging medal collection from four gilded years in Scotland with Celtic, Nakamura returned to Marinos early last season to see out his playing days at the club where it all began.