Nakamura to say Sayonara Celtic and Hola Barcelona?

Old Trafford on Tuesday night will bring back memories of his Champions League debut in September 2006. "Before the game," he said, "I heard the Champions League anthem, and my motivation was getting higher. I thought to myself that not many Japanese players get to listen to that music on the pitch. I thought that if I could stay focused for 90 minutes I would be able to achieve many things. I was full of joy. There was nothing negative."

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink gave Celtic the lead that night but Louis Saha had scored twice to put United ahead when the bhoys were awarded a free kick two minutes before half-time. Nakamura was appearing in Europe's elite tornament for the first time and now he had the opportunity to prove that he belonged in amongst the big boys. Gordon Strachan had said that Nakamura was the most technically accomplished player he had ever worked with and the midfielder was determined to justify his gaffers faith in him.

"It was a good distance and the wall was not too close," he said. "So I kicked the ball in such a way to try as much as I could not to put it over the bar. The feeling was like placing it in the right spot. If Saha in the wall had jumped it might have been a problem, but I was thinking that even if the ball didn't go over the wall there remained a chance it could find a gap."

"I was thinking only about putting the ball in the near post with speed." continued Naka, "I tried not to take too many steps. If you run up and kick the ball like ta, ta, ta… ton, it allows the goalkeeper to adjust his timing. As Edwin van der Sar wasn't too far away for that free-kick, I tried to prevent him predicting the timing, rather than trying to read his movement. I pretended to take the shot, then I pretended to stand still, then I took just a couple of steps and hit it. In the end he could not respond."

Manchester United scored a winner early in the second-half that night, but Nakamura had made his mark as the first ever Japanese player to score a goal in the Champions League. When the teams met again at Celtic Park the home side needed the win to guarantee them progression in the competition and indeed participation in the knockout phase for the first time. It must be said that it didn't look too likely a scenario as the teams headed to the dressing rooms at half-time.

"There was a huge gap between us and them," Nakamura said. "Especially in the first half, Celtic could do nothing. When we went into the dressing-room at half-time everybody was more depressed than I have ever seen them before. It was completely quiet. It is impossible that Celtic would meet anybody who passed the ball around like that in the Scottish league."

"Even against Copenhagen and Benfica, at least in the home games, Celtic could take the initiative to some extent," said Naka "and from a personal point of view I could play like myself. But against United it was different. They were a strong side and we were shown the difference in their power in a good way. Even at 70 per cent, they can keep on passing the ball. They were in a different dimension."

Although Celtic improved somewhat after half-time it was still stalemate with

nine minutes remaining. Celtic won a free-kick thirty yards out and although

United may have been wary of Nakamura they would have been comforted by the distance from goal. But Shunsuke had no hesitation in his mind.

"I knew I had to shoot," he said. "I thought we would have no more free-kick

chances. Even if I didn't score, I was confident the keeper would have to make a good save, or it would go just wide. It was a long way out - the wall was in front of the D - but in my mind at the time it didn't seem a long way. From the beginning I targeted the right side of the goal. The speed and height were good; if it had gone higher it wouldn't have worked."

But it did work and as the stadium roof lifted Naka found himself elevated into Celtic history and Celtic hearts.

Like Henrik Larsson before him, it has always been the intention of the humble Nakamura to return to his first professional club in order to show his gratitude to them "I played football in Yokohama for a long time, and was brought up there," he explained. "I want to return a favour, no matter how small it may be. For instance, by looking at the way I play, I hope players of a younger age may be inspired. And I have some business with football academies, and I hope to have as much influence on them as possible. So for those reasons I would like to go home while I am still in good condition."

Celtic fans would love him to sign a new contract and stay a while longer but

many reluctantly accept that, again like Henrik Larsson before him, his mind is made up and he won't be persuaded to reconsider.

In keeping with the Larsson analogies I suppose it only remains to be seen if his return to the J-League and home will come via a stint in Catalonia - not very likely I know but we've just begun the "Naka to Barcelona" rumour officially with that headline :-)