I first interviewed Shunsuke Nakamura in Beirut surrounded by bombed-out slums used to shelter Hezbollah fighters. I don’t know who was more scared — the scrawny 23-year-old about to face the foreign press, or me, petrified about not being able to get back to my hotel before dark.

This was the Asian Cup in 2000 when Japan were forced to train on a pitch hemmed in by crumbling buildings and scattered liberally with rubble and bits of twisted metal. Even among such oppressive surroundings, Nakamura stood out as a potentially world-class player but he always struck me as a bit lightweight — a Japanese Matt Le Tissier, if you like.

Former Japan coach Philippe Troussier thought Nakamura too much of a luxury player to risk selecting for the 2002 World Cup. At the time I fully agreed. I recalled that time in Beirut when Nakamura trudged over to me when ordered to by Japan’s press officer. “Why do I have to go and talk to the foreigners?” Nakamura asked sulkily, afraid to have to speak English. His mood scarcely improved even when he realised I spoke Japanese.

Fast forward seven years, Nakamura is the heartbeat of Japan’s side and has just been voted player of the year after a superb season with Celtic. The pout has been replaced by a wide smile and Nakamura is always ready to chat and to share a joke with journalists.

Nakamura curled in a trademark free kick in Sunday’s 2-1 victory at Kilmarnock that gave Celtic a second successive Scottish title. The 28-year-old has played in all of Celtic’s 34 league matches this season and scored nine goals in becoming the first Japanese player to win back-to-back titles in Europe.

Watching pictures of Nakamura tearing off his shirt and jumping into the crowd at Kilmarnock the thought struck me that the boy had become a man.

Alastair Himmer is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Tokyo

This was a great weekend for many German fans living above the ‘white sausage equator’, the notional line that separates Bavaria from the rest of the country.

Bayern Munich’s 2-0 defeat by VfB Stuttgart on Saturday means they are five points away from the Champions League places with four games left to play. Their title hopes are all but gone, and barring a series of surprises they will be consigned to the UEFA Cup next season.

Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer has derided the UEFA Cup as the “Losers’ Cup” and captain Oliver Kahn has said he has no desire to play in that tournament in what will likely be the final year of his career.

It’s a development that warms the hearts of the Bayern-haters around Germany, who are even united with a common song “Zieht den Bayern die Lederhosen aus” (Pull the leather trousers off Bayern) that they sing whenever the 20-time champions come to town.

Bayern have won six of the last eight Bundesliga titles and seven of the last 10. They’re seen by their detractors as being too rich, too selfish and with a nefarious habit of poaching the best players from the rest of the league to weaken their rivals.

Bayern have had disappointing seasons before, of course, but they may find it more difficult in regaining the upper hand this time, even if the club are prepared to spend a lot of cash. Attracting world class players to the Bundesliga is not easy at the best of times and if they cannot offer Champions League football next season it’s going to be even harder.

Erik Kirschbaum is a Reuters correspondent based in Berlin

Trying to put off an opposing player as he prepares to take a penalty is nothing new but Bolton Wanderers player Stelios Giannakopoulos took the art to new extremes against Reading on Saturday.

When Reading’s Kevin Doyle lined up his spot kick with his side trailing 1-0, Giannakopoulos produced a white balloon from somewhere, placed it on the turf in front of him and as Doyle was about to strike the penalty, stamped on it. It didn’t work, mind. Doyle duly equalised, and Reading went on to win 3-1.

A caller to a BBC radio phone-in said he saw the Greek international Giannakopoulos blow up the balloon, which suggests an element of pre-planning rather than a spontaneous act of mischief. If so it could lead to a whole new meaning to “gamesmanship” with keepers bringing along a selection of props like clown masks or comedy rubber hands.

Then again, former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar managed without any gimmicks, just his own comic talent. He famously did the “rubber legs” dance during Liverpool’s European Cup final penalty shoot-out against Roma in 1984, putting off Francesco Graziani so much that he blasted his kick over the crossbar, helping Liverpool land the trophy.

As the nerve-ends get frayed in the final weeks of the season it will be interesting to see what lengths players are prepared to go to get an edge.

Martyn Herman is a Reuters sports correspondent based in London

Ever since Manchester United destroyed AS Roma 7-1 to reach the last four of the Champions League, people seem to be taking an all-English final for granted. Here are a few good reasons why Sir Alex Ferguson’s team will find it tougher than many people are expecting.

1. The winning habit. Milan have a remarkable recent record in Europe. Since 2003, Carlo Ancelottis side have won the Champions League once, finished runners-up once, and reached the semi-finals on two other occasions. They have won 15 of their last 19 European matches at the San Siro, and are strong away from home too, as they showed when they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the quarter-finals the German sides first European defeat at the Allianz Arena.

2. History. Milan have eliminated Manchester United on each of the three occasions they have met in Europes top club competition: in the European Cup in 1957-58 and 1968-69, and the Champions League of 2004-05, when they beat them 1-0 home and away.

3. Focus. Unlike United, who are stretched across three fronts, Milan can afford to be totally focused on the task in hand. The Champions League is Milans only chance at glory this season and the first leg comes just days after Inter secured the Scudetto an added motivation to the Milan players.

4. Kaka. Everyone is talking about how great Cristiano Ronaldo is, but Milans playmaker is top scorer in the Champions League this season with seven goals. The Brazilian international is capable of winning matches for Milan with one moment of brilliance, as he did in scoring an extra-time goal to eliminate Celtic in the first knockout round.

5. Experience. Don’t underestimate its value when it comes to games like Champions League semi-finals. The average age of the likely Milan defence — Massimo Oddo, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Marek Jankulovski — is over 32 yet they have shown time and again that anticipation and authority can more than compensate for creaking joints.

And that’s even without mentioning Manchester United’s injury crisis…

James Eve reports on Italian sport for Reuters from Rome

The dirty tricks and skulduggery which were once an infamous hallmark of the Libertadores Cup have largely been consigned to the past. Yet the purists will be glad to know that South America’s version of the Champions League retains a rough edge long lost to its European counterpart.
 
Crowds are still packed into standing-room terraces behind the goals, with some fans happily setting off firecrackers in the midst of the throng, and riot police use their shields to protect visiting players from missiles when they take corners.
 
Perhaps in these circumstances, it is not surprising that the concept of “fair play” has not quite caught on. Take Thursday’s match between defending champions Internacional (Brazil) and Nacional (Uruguay) in Porto Alegre.

With five minutes left, Internacional were 1-0 ahead but needed two more to qualify. Then Nacional goalkeeper Fernando Muslera collapsed under the slightest of touches from an opponent, found the strength to kick the ball into touch and went down again. This prompted the predictable delay as he was treated for his “injury” before the game restarted with a throw-in.
 
But here’s the good bit. Instead of handing the ball back to the Uruguayans, Internacional kept possession and started a new attack. In Europe, as Simon Baskett wrote on this blog recently, such an incident would have led to all sorts of recriminations, yet the Uruguayans did not bat a collective eye-lid.
 
Nacional, who eventually got the 1-0 defeat they needed, spent the entire game time-wasting, so much so that Adrian Romero was booked for it after only three minutes. But at least they didn’t expect to be given the ball back afterwards.

Brian Homewood is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Rio de Janeiro

There will be no resisting the comparisons now. Lionel Messi, who has been hailed as the new Diego Maradona since he was a boy, scored a goal on Wednesday that was almost a perfect copy of the great man’s legendary effort against England in the 1986 World Cup — FIFA’s goal of the century.

Beating two men inside his own half with quicksilver footwork, Barcelona’s 19-year-old Argentine weaved his way down field. He jinked past two more Getafe players on his way into the area, drew the keeper and then clipped the ball over the defender who had sprinted back in the hope of clearing the ball off the line. It was the first of two Messi goals in Barca’s 5-2 Cup semi-final win and it was quite simply a masterpiece.

The only goal I can remember to rival it since Ive been in Spain was Ronaldos mesmerising mixture of power, speed and agility as he danced his way past half the Compostela team to score for Barcelona in the 1996-97 season another breathtaking strike.

Does Messis latest creation confirm his status as the true heir to Maradona? As they say over at Notas de futbol, Messi’s goal may have been even better than Maradona’s but it was not on such a grand stage as the World Cup.

The debate will go on, but for now one other question occurs to me. Has there been a better goal anywhere in the world this season?

Simon Baskett is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Madrid

Poland and Ukraine will host the 2012 European Championship finals after seeing off Italy and another joint bid from Hungary and Croatia. It appears to be a huge gamble by UEFA, who had been expected to award the finals to Italy, despite the country’s recent problems with violence and match-fixing.

As it is, Poland and Ukraine will have to show that UEFA’s faith in them is well placed. FIFA had threatened t ban Poland from international competition after its government removed the country’s FA from power in January. The unstable political climate in Ukraine had also raised doubts. 

So did UEFA make the right decision? Would it have been better to give the finals to Italy, a country that would have had few problems staging such a big event? Or is UEFA right to offer what should be a huge boost to two of Europe’s less powerful footballing nations?

Tell us what you think.

Everyone loves a conspiracy theory and Real Madrids sporting director Predrag Mijatovic has started a media frenzy in Spain by suggesting that refereeing decisions are sabotaging his sides chances of winning the league title.

Referee Javier Turienzo Alvarez is the target of Reals ire this time for his decision to award two disputed penalties against them in their defeat in Santander.

Top selling sports Marca daily dubbed Alvarez the executioner on its front page the day after the match, while TVEs Real Madrid-obsessed soccer chat show El Rondo devoted almost the whole of its 90-minute slot to criticising the referee.

Turienzo Alvarez told Punto Radio that he has received over 50 death threats in the wake of the controversy.

For years Reals rivals have accused the nine-times European champions of enjoying refereeing favours, but much of that was due to the fact that they were a highly successful side who were renowned for their attacking play. The recent rise of complaints from Real at their treatment from officials has coincided with their worst run of form in over 50 years.

Do Real have a case? It was interesting that Real great Alfredo Di Stefano would not join in with the complaints.

The referee was very good, said the clubs honorary president. We lost because they played better. If the solution was to moan about things then we can all moan. Referees dont go out to hurt anyone. Everyone makes mistakes.

Simon Baskett is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Madrid

Is the Premier League, the world’s richest championship, turning into the kind of two-horse race between Manchester United and Chelsea that is more typical of Europe’s poorer competitions?

Of the ‘big four’ clubs in English football, Liverpool and Arsenal can be great value on their day. But both lack the consistency and the squad strength in depth to last the full 10-month ordeal of the season.

Which leaves United and Chelsea.

Chelsea have won the League Cup and face United in the FA Cup final on May 19. They also meet at Stamford Bridge on May 9 for a game that could decide the Premier League trophy, with only three points currently separating leaders United from Chelsea, winners of the last two titles.

They could also meet on May 23 in the Champions League final in Athens, if Chelsea see off Liverpool and United defeat AC Milan. In a minor sideshow, this weekend’s PFA Player of the Year contest will probably be between Chelsea’s 30-goal striker Didier Drogba and United’s dazzling winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

Is this just a series of coincidences or the shape of things to come at the top of English football?

Liverpool’s new American owners have promised money for strengthening the squad and Arsenal are hoping their young players will blossom into genuine title contenders.

But are they condemned to a status of privileged onlookers?

Trevor Huggins is a Reuters sports correspondent based in London

Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final win over Blackburn means the “quadruple” is still within reach of Jose Mourinho, yet the coach himself seems less than convinced that he will still be in charge next season.

Why? Only billionaire owner Roman Abramovich could tell but for Chelsea fans the story is a familiar one.

For the fifth decade running, it seems a top-class manager is in danger of being ushered through the exit door despite having laid foundations for long-lasting success.

In the 1960s, Tommy Docherty left for off-field reasons after creating a brilliant young team. Fellow Scot Eddie McCreadie did another excellent job with a collection of youth-team products in the 1970s before leaving in a row over the size of the company car Chelsea were willing to allow him.

John Neal was forced to stand down by illness in the 1980s after building a fine side around astute signings like Kerry Dixon, David Speedie and Pat Nevin. Then, the most remarkable of the lot…Ruud Gullit.

Having gone 26 years without any major silverware, the dreadlocked Dutchman led Chelsea to FA Cup glory in 1997 in his first season. In his second campaign Gullit, he of the “sexy football”, was mysteriously sacked by Ken Bates with the club second in the Premier League, through to the semi-finals of the League Cup and in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Chelsea used to have a penchant for pressing the self-destruct button. Are they getting twitchy fingers again?

Tony Jimenez is a chief sub-editor on the Reuters sports desk, London