Nakamura - I want to play

Playmaker shrugs off painful injury

By Hayley Paterson   Last updated: 29th August 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Nakamura - I want to play

Nakamura: Suffering

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Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura is eager to feature for Japan's World Cup qualifier against Bahrain despite having a sore ankle.

The Scottish champions' set-piece specialist feels he is recovering and hoping to shake off the injury to play in his country's final Group Two match in Saitama.

"The ankle feels better," the 29-year-old said.

"Of course I want to play. We lost to Bahrain away so it's important we beat them at home."

The 1-0 defeat previously by Bahrain in March briefly threatened Japan's hopes of qualification and put coach Takeshi Okada's position under threat.

But with a 3-0 win over Thailand, the side is well on it's way to feature in the 2010 World Cup.

Gruelling

Throughout the gruelling campaign, Nakamura has had to have pain-killing injections in his ankle before games and has suffered from insomnia because of the intensity of the playing schedule.

Meanwhile Okada looks set to keep European-based pair Daisuke Matsui and Makoto Hasebe on the bench to avoid a suspension which could force them to miss a game in the final round.

The draw for the final round of Asian qualifiers takes place in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.