Keisuke Honda has taken the long way round in his journey from Osaka to Rio de Janeiro. The midfielder, 33, played at the top level in Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Mexico and Australia and has now arrived to galvanise sleeping Brazilian giants Botafogo, the footballing birthplace of all-time great Garrincha, now firmly in the shadow of their mighty neighbours Flamengo.
The reaction to Honda's imminent arrival in Rio has been enthusiastic, to say the least. A veteran of three World Cup campaigns, 98 caps and 37 goals for Japan has whipped Botafogo fans into a frenzy, with the excitement spilling over across the city and Brazil as a whole.
“Hey! Everything good? I am Keisuke Honda, it's a pleasure,” the ex-AC Milan and CSKA Moscow star announced on Friday in halting Portuguese via his Twitter account.
“I am going to play at Botafogo, see you in Rio de Janeiro.”
The video, and Botafogo's accompanying transfer reveal - which borrowed from Nintendo's immensely successful Game Boy and Pokemon products – caused a social media sensation, underlining the interest in this most unusual of transfers. The last overseas player to cause such a stir around the club was Clarence Seedorf, who spent two seasons there at the end of his illustrious, trophy-laden career. Honda, however, might just outstrip even the Netherlands legend in terms of pure hype.
Next Match
The enormous Asian football market, for years a key focus for Europe's top clubs, is also a coveted prize in South America.
By virtue of their exploits in the early 2000s, in the Intercontinental Cup, Boca Juniors built up a cult following in Japan, a link upon which they attempted to capitalise with the 2001 signing of Naohiro Takahara. The young forward made more impact on fans with his easygoing nature and permanent grin than on the field, playing just seven times on loan before going on to star in the Bundesliga with Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt.
In Brazil, Corinthians swooped for the unheralded Zhizhao Chen in 2012 with the intention of heightening their profile in China. Chen was greeted with dancing dragons and noisy percussionists in his lavish presentation but also failed to make much of an impression, appearing five times in two seasons prior to a move back home to Beijing Guoan.
The first batch of shirts bearing Honda's name sold out just two days after his signing was confirmed, while Botafogo revealed on the following Monday that membership subscription requests had increased 400 per cent over the weekend, pushing the Fogao towards their target of 40,000 paying supporters. Preparations started early for Honda's arrival in Brazil on Friday and all accounts suggest that his official presentation the following day will be an even more spectacular affair.
How many footballers, let alone overseas players, can after all boast their own samba song? “I have joined this wave/thanks to my Fogao/I've mixed feijoada with sushi/Cachaca with sake/Keisuque? One more name for our constellation.” Arigato Fogao, penned in record time by comedian Marcelo Adnet, salutes Honda's arrival as the “newest Carioca”, coming from the “Orient to show off his silky feet.”
Getty
Whether this audacious transfer will yield the desired results where it most counts remains to be seen. Even Honda's most fanatical supporters would have to admit that the former Japan ace has placed his playing career on the backburner in recent years, with his last stint, at Dutch side VVV, lasting a mere four games before he rescinded his contract at the end of 2019.
Honda's attentions have been divided between fleeting appearances on the pitch, a curious arrangement that sees him coach the Cambodian national team – when his schedule allows, of course – and his own management company, which runs football schools across the globe as well as stakes in several clubs. Indeed, in the same week that he was gearing up to join Botafogo, he was also announcing the formation of One Tokyo, a team that will compete in the city's regional leagues.
Prior to joining VVV he also sent out bizarre 'come and get me' pleas to both Manchester United and Milan, although in spite of pledging to play for free the offers were politely overlooked. Botafogo may just be getting more than they bargained for in this deal; but if Honda can somehow roll back the years and show the talent that made him a living legend in Japan, the excitement might just last beyond Saturday's introduction and revitalise the Rio side over the coming season.