Keisuke Honda was officially unveiled as a SBV Vitesse player on 21 November.

The 33-year-old, who attended the press conference right after training, asserted with enthusiasm, “Everyone said I could no longer play in Europe after playing in Australia. I have not played for this half a year, but my condition is good. You will know how fit I am when you watch me (at a match). I want to surprise everyone.”

Vitesse manager Leonid Slutsky had earlier stated that he planned to deploy Honda for the matchday 14 game against Sparta Rotterdam on 24 November, to which he declared that he is ready. “I would not be here if not for the manager. We knew each other from our time at (CSKA) Moscow, and he gave me a chance to train and play here,” Honda said about his mentor.

Honda began his overseas career at VVV-Venlo, where he played from the winter of 2008 to 2010. “The Eredivisie is a special place. I started here. My hair was black then, and now I am 10 years older,” he recalled, and looked ahead, “I want to show the Netherlands how much that young man has grown. It is a great challenge to prove that I can still do it.”

Vitesse are having a good season so far, but have dropped to 5th in the league following three straight defeats. Much expectations will be placed on Honda to drive the team forward.

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Source: Yahoo

Image: Vitesse tweet