With dyed blonde hair, a self-avowed "big mouth" and a hunger for scoring goals, CSKA Moscow rookie Keisuke Honda is the rising star in Asia's World Cup contingent.

He has emerged from the shadow of former Celtic man Shunsuke Nakamura in Japan but still has some way to go before matching South Korea and Manchester United winger Park Ji-Sung as the continent's brightest talent.

After helping CSKA reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time with his goal-scoring prowess, Honda is raring to outshine other Asian stars plying their trade in Europe.

"Personally, I think it would be okay to aim at winning the World Cup," the left-footed midfielder said, going one up on Japan coach Takeshi Okada's widely ridiculed goal of a semi-final spot in South Africa.

Honda, who turns 24 in June, hopes to stay away from defensive chores for goal-shy Japan, so he can showcase his aggressive style.

"I realise that my personal strength is offence," he said.

He is among four Europe-based players in Japan's World Cup squad, including Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe, Grenoble midfielder Daisuke Matsui and Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto.

"As he has grown, our team has a much greater possibility in terms of scoring," coach Okada said of Honda, the scorer of four goals in a dozen of outings for the Blue Samurai since mid-2008.

South Korea, who reached the 2002 World Cup semi-finals at home, feature six "Eurostars" in their provisional squad.

They include United's Park, Lee Chung-Yong, Bolton Wanderers' player-of-the-year, Park Chu-Young of AS Monaco and Celtic youngster Ki Sung-Yueng.

North Korea, returning to the big stage for for the first time since their debut in 1966, have striker Hong Yong-Jo who plays for Rostov in Russia.

After four years with J-League powerhouse Nagoya Grampus, Honda moved to VVV Venlo in early 2008 and lifted them back to the top Dutch league Eredivisie for the 2008-2009 season.

In an estimated $A14 million (nine million euros) deal, he joined CSKA in January and scored in a 1-0 win over Amkar Perm in their season opener.

He set up a goal and scored another away for a 3-2 aggregate victory over Sevilla to become the first Japanese to reach the Champions League quarters in April.

Honda and Park Ji-Sung's first encounter on the pitch was in a recent friendly in Japan, and Park was impressed.

"Honda has potential unseen in other Japanese players," he said after the game, won by South Korea 2-0 with Park scoring the opener.

The 29-year-old South Korea captain said Honda was "more powerful" than former Bolton midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata, arguably the biggest Japanese name in European football.

The Italian sports daily Gazzetta has called Honda a "star being born in Japan" and the "successor to Nakata."

Nakata moved to Perugia in 1998 after Japan made their winless World Cup debut in France with only J-League players including him.

He retired in 2006 with seven of his 11 professional years spent in Italy's Serie-A.

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