TOKYO - Japan forward Ayase Ueda is heading into the World Cup on the back of the best season of his career after winning the Dutch Eredivisie golden boot with 25 goals for Feyenoord.
Tips from his club manager Robin van Persie played no small part for the 27-year-old, who had five goals in his first season in Rotterdam before netting seven in his injury-hit second.
Former star striker for the Netherlands, van Persie took charge of his old club in the middle of the 2024-25 season before Ueda exploded into life in his third campaign, banging in goals for fun and only one coming via a penalty.
"I've managed to score constantly throughout a campaign more than in the past two seasons," Ueda said after the penultimate fixture of the season. "I'd give myself a pass mark looking at the season as a whole."
Van Persie, who counted Japanese players Shinji Ono, Ryo Miyaichi and Shinji Kagawa as teammates during his stellar career at Feyenoord, Arsenal and Manchester United, had his trust repaid after putting his faith in his Samurai Blue striker.
"I believe that Ayase had a fantastic season," he said after Feyenoord's last match of the season. "It is a pleasure to work with him. He always puts the team first, he works so hard...I think any team in the world would love to have a striker who scores 25 goals."
The 42-year-old said he looked to play to Ueda's strength with headers, from which the former Kashima Antlers and Cercle Brugge man registered nine goals, while also urging him to express himself more.
"During a period of time in the season, there were not enough crosses. That was in the period where he was not scoring, so we changed it around," van Persie said. "It's always about finding the right balance, to have your best players play in their quality."
After playing only 45 minutes out of Japan's four games at the last World Cup in Qatar, Ueda enters this year's tournament firmly established as their first-choice striker.
"I personally was at a level where I couldn't even understand what a sense of frustration was," Ueda said of the 2022 tournament during Japan's training camp on Thursday. "My quality and value as a player are totally different now compared to four years ago."
"The Japan national team is where I can feel my development. I need to make Japan win matches."
