A Trade Imbalance in Soccer Stars

By Janice Castro

, English soccer fans are devastated. Their top scoring ace, GARY LINEKER, is moving to the Grampus Eight club of Nagoya, Japan, in a deal worth nearly $9 million. Japan, where professional soccer will get under way in 1993, wants to become a global force in the sport. Such companies as Matsushita, Mazda and Toyota, which have invested in soccer teams, are luring world-class players to kick-start the action.

With reporting by Sidney Urquhart