Under current coach Zico, Nakamura has produced consistently sparkling displays for Japan, steering them to a successful defence of their continental title at the 2004 Asian Cup in China and shining brightly during the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany.

Nakamura was the only overseas-based star drafted in by Zico when Japan went into the Asian Cup with an obviously under-strength team. Nakamura stood out in this company and he was in imperious form, creating goals and scoring perhaps the best of the tournament in the 1-0 victory against Oman. As Japan lifted the cup, Nakata was voted the competition's Most Valued Player.

He impressed in last year's FIFA Confederations Cup and set up Masashi Oguro for the only goal of the match as Japan beat European champions Greece. Against five-time world champions Brazil in the next game, he found the net with a magnificent left-foot strike and fired a blistering free-kick which struck the post before Oguro followed up to score the equaliser in the dying minutes of a 2-2 draw.

Yokohoma start
Nakamura had come a long way since making his league debut in 1997, scoring five goals in 27 appearances for Yokohama Marinos at the age of 18. The next year he became one of the J League's highest-scoring midfielders with nine in 33 appearances, while his creative qualities had already earned him a first cap for Japan, which came in a February 1998 friendly against Australia. His development led to him being named the J League's Most Valuable Player in 2000 and he played a part in Japan's triumphant campaign at the Asian Cup in Lebanon.

In 2002 he headed to Italy to join Reggina, where he made 31 appearances and scored seven goals to help the club survive their first season back in Serie A. But as compatriot Hidetoshi Nakata found, life in Italy was not always that easy and in the following years he struggled to hold down a regular place in the starting eleven. In the summer of 2005, he left the side in southern Italy to accept Celtic's offer of a fresh challenge in Scotland.

There he quickly won the hearts of the fans as well as Celtic coach Gordon Strachan, who described Nakamura as "head and shoulders above others". Japan coach Zico also hopes the stringent demands of the Scottish game will help Nakamura with one possible weakness. "He will be closely marked by defenders so he needs to work hard to improve physically," said Zico. "Physical strength will help him play even better."