Kennedy confirms move to Japan

2 min read 23 June 2009

Qantas Socceroo striker Josh Kennedy has confirmed his move to Japanese J-League Nagoya Grampus Eight over the weekend.

The move should give Kennedy the game time he needs in the lead up to next year-s FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa, after a year of frustration at German Bundesliga club Karlsruhe.

The 26-year-old has spent the last nine years in Germany with VfLWolfsburg, Stuttgarter Kickers, FC Koln, Dynamo Dresden and Nurnberg and has been quite open in the past month that he wanted to move away from Germany and seek a fresh opportunity.

Nagoya is among the top clubs in Japan and is in the next stage of the AFC Champions League and has Dragan Stojkovic as its manager. They currently sit in 9th place on this seasons standing after 14 rounds. The current season will not finish until December and starts again in March 2010.

"I'm thrilled to join Nagoya and hope I can score a lot of goals for the fans," said Kennedy.

"I know the Japanese are football crazy, so it will definitely be a fantastic place to go.

"It's fast exciting football.

"It's definitely the place to be, it's an attractive place to be,” he said.

Kennedy joins Eddy Bosnar as the only Australian players currently playing in the J-League.