"Shunsuke's victory bullet!" ran the headline of the Tokyo-Chunichi Sports newspaper a day after Celtic triumphed 2-1 at Kilmarnock in injury time.

"So Dramatic, Shunsuke," the Nikkan Sports daily said. "Nakamura's name has been engraved into the history of European football."

National newspapers carried Nakamura's achievement as the top item on their sports pages.

"Shunsuke's Historic Free Kick," the Sankei Shimbun said in its headline, with a picture of the 28-year-old swinging his shirt around for joy after his winning goal.

Later in the day, Nakamura was voted Player of the Year by the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association, beating off strong competition from team mates Lee Naylor and Artur Boruc, as well as Aberdeen skipper Russell Anderson.

"I'm very pleased but this isn't something you can get on your own -- it's down to the whole team and also the supporters," the modest Nakamura said in Scotland.

"All the players deserved to get this award. For example, a player like Neil Lennon is not really in the limelight but he is so important in the background and without players like him we wouldn't have our style of play."

Nakamura joined the Yokohama Marinos in 1997 and scored 33 goals in 148 games, winning the J-League's most valuable player award in 2000.

He moved to Italy's Reggina in July 2002 and scored 11 goals in 81 Serie A games before joining Celtic in 2005.

Despite his success in Europe, Nakamura said earlier this year that he hoped to return soon to play in Japan.