Kawaguchi - now starring at Pompey (Allsport).
YOSHIKATSU KAWAGUCHI
Position: Goalkeeper
Born: 15.08.75
Club: Portsmouth
A spectacular if erratic goalkeeper, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi will captain Japan in the 2002 World Cup.
Kawaguchi currently plies his trade with English first division side Portsmouth, for whom he made a memorable start – for all the wrong reasons.
Signed amid enormous media attention, Kawaguchi was picking the ball out of his own net after just 26 seconds on his debut Sheffield Wednesday in November.
And since then the physical nature of the English game seems to have left him a bit shell-shocked, and he has been blamed for a number of goals let in by `Pompey'
Linked with Premier League side Bolton before his move to Portsmouth, this former J League Rookie of the Year, Kawaguchi has over 50 caps for his country and played in the 1998 World Cup.
With reports suggesting Kawaguchi was signed on the say-so of Portsmouth's Director of Football, Harry Redknapp, rather than manager Graham Rix, Kawaguchi needs a good World Cup to ensure his place in England is secure.
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