Keisuke Honda shines on A-League debut for Melbourne Victory

Keisuke Honda has already shown he is going to be worth every cent Victory and FFA have invested in him.

Keisuke Honda rises above the Melbourne City defence to head home for Victory at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night. Picture: AFP

He is reportedly getting $3 million for his stint at Melbourne Victory, but Keisuke Honda has already shown he is going to be worth every cent the club and Football Federation Australia have invested in him.

The Japanese superstar and his team fell 2-1 to local rivals Melbourne City in their opening game of the A-League season at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, but as downpayments go, they don’t come much better than his 90-minute debut in front of the home fans.

Honda was everything we have come to expect from a player of his stature, showing his class with some delightful early touches, his passing and his ability to read the game.

But it was in the 28th minute that he really introduced himself to Australian club soccer, positioning himself on the penalty spot to head home a perfect cross from the right from Storm Roux — a memorable goal that sent most of the 40,000-strong crowd, with a small contingent of Japanese fans, into raptures.

Unfortunately, we don’t know how happy Honda himself was to have made such as impact as he did not speak to media after the match, so it was left to Victory coach Kevin Muscat to do the ­talking.

“Keisuke was outstanding. He’s a very, very clever footballer,” Muscat enthused.

“He has got the understanding with his teammates in such a short period of time and he was exciting every time he got the ball. He played as I expected. I thought he was very influential … his desire to compete and his technical ability is something else.

“He not only scored that goal but he set up a few chances as well.”

Muscat praised Honda’s ability to play through some tough periods when the opposition tried to close him down.

“He never takes an easy option. He stays on his feet and doesn’t try to milk a foul,” he said. “There were bits of that tonight (trying to con the match officials), but he did not get caught up in that.”

Muscat is confident Honda, whose contract is reportedly made up of $1.3 million from Victory and another $1.6 million from FFA’s marquee fund, will only improve as he gets more used to his teammates and the speed and physicality of the A-League.

Honda’s performance highlighted what was a good opening two games of the season for the new foreign talent that has come into the league.

It has been suggested that the quality of the latest influx of visa players is the best we have seen in the national competition for some time.

On Friday night Englishman Adam Le Fondre got on the scoresheet in his debut for Sydney FC in the 1-1 draw with Adelaide United, backing up an excellent pre-season in which he scored plenty of goals.

Honda followed up on Saturday night with the opening goal of the game before Dutchman Ritchie De Laet equalised for City after having the presence of mind to follow up a penalty that was saved by goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.

Goal aside, De Laet was outstanding for City and was judged the best player on the park, though Honda was not far behind him.