9 Kenji Fukuda Position:FW Born: 21-Oct-1977 Height/Weight: 179/73 Birthplace:Ehime Previous Teams:Ichikawa Kanezuka SC; Narashino High; Nagoya Grampus, FC Tokyo, Vegalta Sendai, Guarani (Paraguay), Pachuca (Mexico), Irapuato (Mexico) Appearances (J1/J2): 155/0 Goals: 41/0 First Appearance: 16-Mar-1996 Nagoya Grampus -vs- Bellmare Hiratsuka (at Mizuho Stadium) First Goal : 19-Jul-1997 Nagoya Grampus -vs- Avispa Fukuoka (at Hakatanomori Stadium)

Kenji Fukuda is a member of the so-called "lost generation" of Japanese players, who enjoyed a breif instant of stardom in the mid-1990s and then were suddenly and almost completely eclipsed by another group of stars, about four years younger, who came to be called the "golden generation", and quickly estabished themselves as the top stars in the J.League. Though Fukuda was two years behind the others in the so-called "lost generation", he will probably go down in the history books along with better-known burnouts like Masakiyo Maezono, Shoji Jo, Nobuyuki Zaizen, Teruyoshi Ito, Ryuji Michiki, Takafumi Ogura, Kenichi Uemura, Yoshika Matsubara and even, to some extent, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, as a group of players who tasted success before they were prepared for it, and then were whisked away into the shadow world of the "has-beens" before they even reached their prime. Fukuda actually was not present when his U-23 teammates defeated Brazil at the 1996 Olympics. He was two years younger, and participated only as a reserve in that team, being dropped from the squad before it left for Atlanta. Nevertheless, as a rookie with Nagoya Grampus Fukuda was already viewed as a star. Dragan Stojkovic took the youngster under his wing and was lavish with his praise for the young striker, touting him as Japan's future scoring leader. He won several commercial endorsements, and seemed to be headed for a place in Japanese sports history as a star, rather than a spectacular failure.

But just slightly over two years later, the "lost generation" saw their stardom suddenly eclipsed by the U-20 team which finished second in the World Youth Championships in 1999. This group of players featured stars such as Shinji Ono, Junichi Inamoto, Naohiro Takahara, Shunsuke Nakamura, Koji Nakata, Mitsuo Ogasawara and Masashi Motoyama, and they quickly drove their predecessors from the limelight, capturing not only the attention of the media, but also all the starting positions on both the national team and their J.League squads. The players from the "lost generation" suddenly seemed to lose their way as football players, as if they had been injured fatally when they were knocked from their pedestal. The skills and confidence they had demonstrated at the Olympic games suddenly vanished, and Fukuda, along with Jo, Maezono, Zaizen and the others soon found themselves bouncing from team to team, relegated to roles as second-rate reserves, and wandering in the wilderness of "former fame".

It has never been entirely clear what happened to this generation, but they seem to have lived under a curse ever since their star burned out at the end of the 90s. Fukuda certainly fits this profile.

Though he does have reasonably good technical skills, his scoring ability seemed to desert him around the turn of the century. After scoring 31 goals in three seasons at Grampus, it took him another five years to record his next ten. He was traded to FC Tokyo in mid-2001 but failed to break the starting lineup there, either. By mid-2003, Tokyo cut him loose and he ended up as an occasional substitute at Vegalta Sendai.

After Sendai were relegated, Fukuda apparently asked for a transfer to a J1 club, but there were no takers on the transfer market. However, Vegalta managed to interest Paraguay's Guarani, and Fukuda was transferred on a one-year rental contract starting in late January 2004. Given his difficulties in the J.League, not much was expected of Fukuda in South America, but in fact he performed quite well. Fukuda scored ten league goals and one goal in the Libertadores Cup during his one year in Paraguay. However, since Sendai failed to win promotion, Fukuda opted for a transfer to another overseas club, this time in Mexico. After playing in Mexico for two seasons, Fukuda may not have won much media attention, but he was able to improve his Spanish, and hone his skills to the point where he attracted attention from Spain.

Though the club which approached him, Castellon, is a first division club (a step below the Primera Liga), the move to Spain should earn Fukuda a bit more attention. At age 28, he is certainly not yet ready to hang up the cleats, and who knows, with a few lucky breaks he may be able to achieve more fame in Europe than he has enjoyed in his home country. In some respects, Fukuda still belongs to the "lost generation", but perhaps he is finding his way onto the world stage at last.