IN terms of attractions, the industrial city of Nagoya hasn't a lot to offer the visitor.
There's Nagoya Castle, the television tower presenting views of Mount Fuji on a clear day, there's the Toyota car museum . . . and there's Gary Lineker.
But these are frustrating times for the 32-year-old former England captain, who retired from international football after the 1992 European Championships in Sweden to join the Yen Family and promote and play in the new J.League.
And the league has taken off like a rocket, attracting 1.5 million spectators to the 90 matches in the first half of the championship between May 15 and July 14 and producing a new galaxy of stars for the Japanese sporting public such as the Brazilian Alcindo (Kashima Antlers), the German Pierre Littbarski (JEF United) and the Argentine Ramon Diaz (Yokohama Marinos).
Lineker, however, has been left stranded on the runway, a broken bone in his right foot restricting his league appearances to just five and his goal tally to just one - a late consolation effort in a 2-1 defeat by the Yokohama Flugels.
It is now over two months since he started a match and he does not expect to return to the Nagoya side until the end of this month or early September.