As secret weapons go, there are few better players a J. League team could call on than Brazilian striker Marquinhos.
Urawa Reds learned that the hard way in last week's game against Yokohama F. Marinos when, with two minutes left on the clock and the score at 1-1, Shunsuke Nakamura swung a corner deep toward the back post. One flash of his trademark ponytail later, Marquinhos had bagged the winner — just 16 minutes after coming off the bench in his first appearance for Marinos since rejoining the club at the start of the year.
Urawa should have known better. A 10-year veteran of the Japanese game with 110 goals and the 2008 player-of-the-year award to his name, Marquinhos is one of the J. League's enduring achievers. A year away from Japan and an early-season injury may have taken him out of the spotlight, but the 36-year-old will always know where the goal is.