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.