Ono leaves Japan for German side Bochum
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TOKYO (AFP) - Former Asian Player of the Year Shinji Ono left Japan Monday to join German first division side VfL Bochum, with a hope to start playing in a February 3 match against Werder Bremen.
Former Feyenoord midfielder Ono, 28, is to go through a medical on Tuesday before officially signing a contract.
Ono had joined Bochum's practice sessions earlier this month, but returned home after injuring left ankle.
"I think my condition has improved a lot. I can practice with no strange feeling," he said at Narita airport near Tokyo as he embarked on his second stint in Europe.
"I want to work there so that I can start playing from the game on February 3," he said.
Ono, a veteran of three World Cups, first joined Urawa in 1998 and returned to the J-League side on a three-year contract in January 2006 after five seasons with Dutch giants Feyenoord.
Acclaimed for his vision and pinpoint passing, Ono helped Feyenoord win the UEFA Cup in 2002 when he was named Asian Player of the Year.
But recurring injuries sidelined him for much of the last J-League season, which ended in November.
Ono trained with Bochum earlier this month but the Bundesliga side put transfer talks on hold when he complained of pain in the left ankle which was operated on last October.
He would be the second Reds player to leave for Germany after teammate Makoto Hasebe signed for VfL Wolfsburg this month.
Urawa signed Japan's ace striker Naohiro Takahara from another Bundesliga side, Eintracht Frankfurt, also this month. -
Originally posted by a-Lost-9uY:
Former Asian Player of the Year Shinji Ono
TOKYO (AFP) - Former Asian Player of the Year Shinji Ono left Japan Monday to join German first division side VfL Bochum, with a hope to start playing in a February 3 match against Werder Bremen.
Former Feyenoord midfielder Ono, 28, is to go through a medical on Tuesday before officially signing a contract.
Ono had joined Bochum's practice sessions earlier this month, but returned home after injuring left ankle.
"I think my condition has improved a lot. I can practice with no strange feeling," he said at Narita airport near Tokyo as he embarked on his second stint in Europe.
"I want to work there so that I can start playing from the game on February 3," he said.
Ono, a veteran of three World Cups, first joined Urawa in 1998 and returned to the J-League side on a three-year contract in January 2006 after five seasons with Dutch giants Feyenoord.
Acclaimed for his vision and pinpoint passing, Ono helped Feyenoord win the UEFA Cup in 2002 when he was named Asian Player of the Year.
But recurring injuries sidelined him for much of the last J-League season, which ended in November.
Ono trained with Bochum earlier this month but the Bundesliga side put transfer talks on hold when he complained of pain in the left ankle which was operated on last October.
He would be the second Reds player to leave for Germany after teammate Makoto Hasebe signed for VfL Wolfsburg this month.
Urawa signed Japan's ace striker Naohiro Takahara from another Bundesliga side, Eintracht Frankfurt, also this month.