THE FIRST SAMURAI DERBY

MILAN – Following his first goal away to Genoa, who were the first team to field a Japanese player in the history of Italian football, Kazu Miura, our very own Keisuke Honda will be looking to repeat that against Inter when he takes on his friend and international team-mate Yuto Nagatomo this Sunday.THE DUEL: Keisuke Honda was born on the 13th of June 1986 and has made 53 appearances for the Japanese national team scoring on 21 occasions. For Milan, his record so far reads 13 appearances and 1 goal. This is his first derby. Yuto Nagatomo was born on the 12th of September 1986 and with Japan he has played 67 times scoring 3 goals. For Inter meanwhile his record reads 105 games and 9 goals.HONOURS: During the 2013 calendar year, Nagatomo won the Sport Award for the best Asian player with Honda in second place. Honda did though come first in the Titan Sports Award for the best Asian player of the year for 2013 with Nagatomo not amongst the candidates.NATIONAL TEAM: Both players were first team starters in the Japan team that won the Asian Cup in 2011 coached by Alberto Zaccheroni. This is the schedule for the Japanese team at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil: 14 June, Ivory Coast-Japan; 19 June, Japan-Greece; 24 June, Japan-Colombia.