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By Phil McNulty
Our man with the England team
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David Beckham sprinkled his own special brand of stardust on the World Cup as England launched their campaign - but left renewed doubts over his fitness by lasting only 62 minutes of the 1-1 draw against Sweden.
Beckham has been feted since his arrival in the Land of the Rising Sun.
But his premature departure from the action against demonstrated the extent of England's gamble on their inspirational captain.
The hype, speculation and daily medical bulletins were over as England's inspirational leader - and seemingly Japan's newest sporting superstar - made his return to action.
England must now measure Beckham's involvement in the tournament seriously, but the mere sight of him in the flesh and playing was enough to satisfy the millions watching around the world.
However, concerns must run deep in the England camp as Beckham proved he was clearly way off full fitness.
The hysteria that surrounded Beckham in Saitama was 8,000 miles away from the night at Old Trafford when his participation in this sporting showcase was put in jeopardy by a foul as Manchester United played Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League.
Beckham's every move in Saitama was accompanied by thousands of cameras.
The space-age stadium was a blaze of flashlights even when his picture appeared on the giant electronic scoreboards.
Even a routine cross-field pass was greeted with gasps of enthusiastic approval from an adoring Japanese public who have taken England and their captain to their hearts.
Thousands of Japanese fans flooded to the stadium to finally glimpse Beckham in action and many boosted the FA's coffers by sporting England shirts.
And an eerie silence that descended on the stadium 15 minutes before kick-off was shattered by the sight of Beckham's picture on the screens.
The Swedish supporters were suitably unimpressed, brandishing a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Sven-Goran Eriksson draped in his home country's colours in response.
Beckham gently eased himself into World Cup combat after his long lay-off with the most talked about broken metatarsal bone in medical history.
Slowly but surely he upped the tempo, and with it his huge significance to England was demonstrated.
He emerged from a crucial tackle with Tobias Linderoth unscathed and the massed ranks of England fans were satisfied.
They were even more elated after 23 minutes when Beckham underlined why Eriksson broke free of his usual verbal shackles to describe him as the world's best dead ball artist.
He swung in a corner from the left, and Sweden goalkeeper Magnus Hedman was caught in the blinding flashlights as Sol Campbell arrived ahead of him to power a header into the net.
It was a moment of deliverance for Campbell who saw a World Cup goal against Argentina crucially chalked off for a foul elsewhere.
England celebrated and Beckham began to exert his influence, knitting moves together and linking midfield and attack with short and long range passes.
But the hope was short-lived, and Beckham's anonymity after the break was grim evidence of his lay-off.
It was no surprise when he was substituted by another recent crock Kieron Dyer.
Now Eriksson must hope his gamble on Beckham has not failed.
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