RALPH WENGE, CNN ANCHOR: The sport that some call soccer and others call football has been played for more than 100 years, and among some of the game's most famous players are Pele, Kroft (ph), Vay (ph), and Maradona. Soon, the list may also include a Japanese name. INN Italy has more.</s>ALBERTO RIMEDIO, INN REPORTER (voice-over): Who's the richest soccer player in the world? Many would think of the Brazilian Renaldo, the Italian</s>SACHIKO HIGASHIDA, JOURNALIST: I think Nakata is a sort of ambassador of the Japanese younger generation.</s>RIMEDIO (on camera): Is it correct to say that only the emperor is more important than Nakata?</s>HIGASHIDA: Nakata is a wonderful soccer player. The emperor is the symbol of the Japanese nation. They are two things that are very different. But I can say that young Japanese generation follow Nakata more.</s>RIMEDIO (voice-over): Nakata is almost a legend, and in his country, every soccer supporter would like to have a Nakata T-shirt. Before going to Roma, when he played for AC Perugia, 70,000 T-shirts were sold in Japan alone. We have to remember Nakata is a good midfielder, but this is not the only reason why</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  (through translator): It's a great business for everyone, not only for else, but also for the company which is producing Nakata's T-shirts.</s>RIMEDIO: So we can easily understand how AS Roma is going to earn a lot of money because of the Japanese player. Even though Franco Sensi (ph) paid $25 million to contract Hidetoshi, analysts think that he'll have his money back by the year's end. (on camera): This is Alberto Rimedio from INN, Italian News Network, for CNN WORLD REPORT.
Hidetoshi Nakata Earns Fame, Riches Playing Soccer in Italy