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Now 31, the former Urawa Reds and Tokyo Verdy player finds himself at a "crossroads" in his career. Sakurai is still capable of scoring important goals, and retains the ability to "catch fire" that he demonstrated in his early years, but for some reason he only seems to score against the "big teams" such as Gamba and Urawa. Part of the problem is that Sakurai seems to be habitually injured, and his poor scoring record on average more than offsets his ability to produce clutch goals against powerful opponents. At one stage during the 2006 season he was the first choice striker, alongside the now departed Gral, but yet another injury put him out of the picture, and he was hardly seen after that. With his pace, he is a good option to bring off the bench and energise the attack, when the opposition is running on tired legs. However, it's highly unlikely he will be a starting player in 2007. | |
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