Hidetoshi Nakata

Hidetoshi Nakata
HidetoshiNakata2.jpg
Personal information
Full name Hidetoshi Nakata
Date of birth January 22, 1977 (1977-01-22) (age 34)
Place of birth Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1989 Hokushin Boys Soccer Club
1989–1992 Kofu Kita Jr. H.S.
1992–1995 Nirasaki H.S.
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1995–1998 Bellmare Hiratsuka 85 (16)
1998–2000 Perugia 48 (12)
2000–2001 A.S. Roma 30 (5)
2001–2004 Parma 67 (5)
2004 → Bologna (loan) 17 (2)
2004–2005 Fiorentina 20 (0)
2005–2006 → Bolton Wanderers (loan) 21 (1)
National team
1997–2006 Japan 77 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Hidetoshi Nakata, Cavaliere OSSI (中田 英寿 Nakata Hidetoshi?, born January 22, 1977 in Yamanashi Prefecture), is a retired Japanese football player. He was one of the most famous Asian footballers of his generation.

Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player of the Year award in 1997 and 1998, the Scudetto with A.S. Roma in 2001, played for Japan in three FIFA World Cup tournaments (1998, 2002 and 2006) and played in the Olympics twice (1996 and 2000). In 2005, he was made the Knight of the Star of Italian Solidarity, one of Italy's highest honors, for improving the country's image overseas.[1] Nakata is known as a fashion icon, regularly attending runway shows and wearing designer fashion.

Nakata announced his retirement at age 29 on July 3, 2006 after a ten-year career that included seven seasons in the Italian Serie A and a season in the English Premier League.

Pelé named Nakata in his FIFA 100 in March 2004.

Contents

Club career

Nakata began his professional career at age 18 in 1995, with J. League side Bellmare Hiratsuka (now Shonan Bellmare). He represented Japan at the 1996 Olympics, where Japan upset Brazil.[2] Nakata also appeared in the 2000 Olympics.

After the World Cup in France, he moved to Perugia in Italy's Serie A.

In January 2000, after one and a half seasons at Perugia, Nakata moved to Roma for 42 Billion ITL,[3] whom he helped to win the scudetto. The highlight of Nakata's career at Roma came on May 6, 2001 in the Serie A match against Juventus F.C. at Stadio Delle Alpi. After replacing Francesco Totti in the second half with Roma trailing 0-2, Nakata netted with a 30-yard screamer beyond Juventus goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar's reach. Nakata then set up another goal when his fierce drive from outside the box was parried into the path of Vincenzo Montella, who duly equalised for Roma. The match ended with a 2-2 draw and Roma maintained a six-point margin atop the league table.

In the summer of 2001, he joined Parma where he played for two and a half seasons.

In January 2004, Nakata joined Bologna where he played the remainder of the 2003–04 season before moving to Fiorentina, where he played the following season. In August 2005, Nakata moved to Premiership side Bolton Wanderers on loan. During his season at Bolton he scored once in the league, in a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.[4]

On July 3, 2006, Nakata announced his retirement from professional football and the Japanese national team on his personal website "I decided half a year ago that I would retire from the world of professional football... after the World Cup in Germany." Nakata wrote, "I will never again stand on the pitch as a professional player. But I will never give up football."[5][6] On June 9, 2007, he made an appearance on the pitch again for the first time in public after his retirement when he played at Luís Figo's charity match.

Nakata has cited the popular manga and anime series, Captain Tsubasa, as his primary inspiration in choosing football as a career.[7]

International career

He made his senior national team debut in May 1997 against South Korea and was a key member of the Japanese side that qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, setting up all three Japanese goals in the qualification play-off against Iran.

He also helped Japan reach the final of the 2001 Confederations Cup that season, but left the national team before the final to join Roma for their final league matches.[8]

Nakata played in every match for Japan at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, and scored a goal against Tunisia.

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Nakata played in all three matches for Japan, losing to Australia and Brazil, and drawing with Croatia. His performance against Croatia earned him a Man of the Match award.[9]

Although Nakata has appeared in every World Cup match that Japan has played thus far, he was not selected for the country's Asian Cup-winning squads in 2000 and 2004.

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J. League Cup Asia Total
1995 Bellmare Hiratsuka J. League 26 8 2 1 - - 28 9
1996 26 2 3 0 12 2 - 41 4
1997 21 3 3 0 6 1 - 30 4
1998 12 3 - - - 12 3
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
1998-99 Perugia Serie A 33 10 0 0 - - 33 10
1999-00 15 2 4 1 - - 19 3
Roma 15 3 1 0 - 2 0 18 3
2000-01 15 2 0 0 - 7 1 22 3
2001-02 Parma 24 1 6 2 - 8 1 38 4
2002-03 31 4 2 0 - 4 0 37 4
2003-04 12 0 2 0 - 4 1 18 1
Bologna 17 2 0 0 - - 17 2
2004-05 Fiorentina 20 0 3 0 - - 23 0
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2005-06 Bolton Wanderers Premier League 21 1 3 0 2 0 6 0 32 1
Total Japan 85 16 8 1 18 3 - 111 20
Italy 182 24 18 3 - 25 3 225 30
England 21 1 3 0 2 0 6 0 32 1
Career total 288 41 29 4 20 3 31 3 368 51

National team

Appearances in major competitions

Team Competition Category Appearances Goals Team Record
Start Sub
 Japan 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship U-17 3 0 1 Quarterfinals
 Japan 1994 AFC Youth Championship U-19 6 0 2 Runner-up
 Japan 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship U-20 4 0 2 Quarterfinals
 Japan 1996 Olympics qualification U-22 5 0 1 Qualified
 Japan 1996 Olympics U-23 2 0 0 Round 1
 Japan 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification Senior 11 1 5 Qualified
 Japan 1998 East Asian Dynasty Cup Senior 3 0 2 Champions
 Japan 1998 FIFA World Cup Senior 3 0 0 Round 1
 Japan 2000 Olympics qualification U-22 2 0 1 Qualified
 Japan 2000 Olympics U-23 3 0 1 Quarterfinals
 Japan 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Senior 4 0 1 Runner-up
 Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup Senior 4 0 1 Round of 16
 Japan 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Senior 3 0 1 Round 1
 Japan 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Senior 3 0 0 Round 1
 Japan 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification Senior 5 0 0 Qualified
 Japan 2006 FIFA World Cup Senior 3 0 0 Round 1

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. June 22, 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Macau 10-0 Won 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
2. June 22, 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Macau 10-0 Won 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
3. June 28, 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Oman 1-1 Draw 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
4. September 7, 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Uzbekistan 6-3 Won 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
5. November 8, 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Kazakhstan 5-1 Won 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
6. February 15, 1998 Adelaide, Australia  Australia 3-0 Won Friendly
7. June 7, 2000 Yokohama, Japan  Australia 1-0 Won 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Semi-finals
8. March 27, 2002 Łódź, Poland  Poland 2-0 Won Friendly
9. June 14, 2002 Osaka, Japan  Tunisia 2-0 Won 2002 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
10. June 18, 2003 Saint-Denis, France  New Zealand 3-0 Won 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Group Stage
11. February 28, 2006 Dortmund, Germany  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-2 Draw Friendly

Honours

Achievements

Outside of football

Outside of football Nakata has shown interest in fashion, attending runway shows, wearing designer clothing and sporting colorful haircuts. He dyed his hair red for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, hoping to attract the attention of European scouts, and Japanese hairstylist Aki Watanabe credits him as a trendsetter in hair styles.[10] Andrea Tenerani, photographer for GQ in Italy said of Nakata, "He's perfect; he's like a model. And he's totally obsessed with fashion,"[11] and Calvin Klein designer Italo Zucchelli said, "(Nakata) plays with fashion like all of them now, but in a cooler, more sophisticated way than many others."[12] He is one of the models featuring the Calvin Klein underwear campaign 2010. He was featured in the July 2007 US version of GQ with a 12-page spread on Fall Fashion.

Nakata is currently also an Editor-at-Large at Monocle[13] at the invitation of his friend Tyler Brûlé, who also serves as the magazine's Editor-in-Chief.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Arise, Sir Nak!". This Is Lancashire. October 14, 2005. http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2005/10/14/872606.html. Retrieved July 3, 2006. 
  2. ↑ "Japan in need of miracle". 2006 FIFA World Cup. June 21, 2006. http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060621/1/80s3.html. Retrieved July 3, 2006. 
  3. ↑ "BILANCIO D’ESERCIZIO E CONSOLIDATO DI GRUPPO AL 30 GIUGNO 2000" (in Italian). AS Roma (Borsa Italiana Archive). http://www.borsaitaliana.it/mediasource/borsa/db/pdf/1094.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-02. 
  4. ↑ "Bolton 2-0 West Brom". BBC. 23 October 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4344558.stm. Retrieved 15 September 2009. 
  5. ↑ "Japan and Bolton midfielder Nakata to retire". Reuters. July 3, 2006. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=373155&cc=5901. Retrieved July 3, 2006. 
  6. ↑ "To live is to journey, and to journey is to live.". Hidetoshi Nakata. July 3, 2006. http://www.nakata.net/en/hidesmail/hml16700.htm. Retrieved January 22, 2007. 
  7. ↑ ‘I don’t understand why people are football fans. I don’t like to watch any kind of sport’ - by Jonathan Northcroft, The Sunday Times, January 1, 2006.
  8. ↑ "Just making the final was a triumph for cup co-host". Sports Illustrated (Associated Press). June 11, 2001. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2001/06/11/japan_confed/. Retrieved July 3, 2006. 
  9. ↑ "Japan 0-0 Croatia". BBC News. June 18, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853196.stm. Retrieved July 7, 2008. 
  10. ↑ Sodje, Efe (2002). "Footballers ... haircuts. Not always the best combination!". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/sport/2003/10/worldcup_haircuts.shtml. Retrieved July 4, 2006. 
  11. ↑ Martin, J. J. (July 1, 2002). "Feast for marketers: It's all about soccer". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/07/01/rsoccer_ed3_.php. Retrieved July 4, 2006. 
  12. ↑ Wilson, Eric (June 22, 2006). "BLEACH IT LIKE BECKHAM: World Cup of hair style". New York Times. http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/style/14880165.htm. Retrieved July 4, 2006. 
  13. ↑ Hide Chaser ｜nakata.net - 中田英寿オフィシャルホームページ

External links