Hidetoshi Nakata

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The native form of this personal name is Nakata Hidetoshi. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Hidetoshi Nakata
中田 英寿
OSSI
Nakata in 2012
Personal information
Full name Hidetoshi Nakata[1]
Date of birth (1977-01-22) 22 January 1977 (age 47)[2]
Place of birth Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1992–1994 Nirasaki High School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1998 Bellmare Hiratsuka 85 (16)
1998–2000 Perugia 48 (12)
2000–2001 Roma 30 (5)
2001–2004 Parma 67 (5)
2004 → Bologna (loan) 17 (2)
2004–2006 Fiorentina 20 (0)
2005–2006 → Bolton Wanderers (loan) 21 (1)
Total 288 (41)
International career
1991–1993 Japan U-17 6 (2)
1994–1995 Japan U-20 12 (6)
1995–2000 Japan U-23 12 (3)
1997–2006 Japan 77 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hidetoshi Nakata, OSSI (中田 英寿, Nakata Hidetoshi, born 22 January 1977) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Considered one of the best talents to come from an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) country in the early late 1990s and early 2000s,[3] Nakata became the first ever AFC player to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or; he also hold the record for most goals scored by an AFC player in the Serie A. He is widely considered to be one of the best Asian players of all time.

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 Roma in 2001, played for Japan in three World Cup tournaments (1998, 2002 and 2006) and competed in the Olympics twice (1996 and 2000).[4] In 2005, he was made the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, one of Italy's highest honors, for improving the country's image overseas.[5] Nakata has also been involved in fashion, regularly attending runway shows and wearing designer clothing.

Nakata announced his retirement at the age of 29 on 3 July 2006, after a ten-year career that included seven seasons in the Italian Serie A and a season in the English Premier League. In March 2004, Pelé named Nakata in his FIFA 100, a list of the top living footballers at the time. Nakata was one of only two Asian footballers on the list.

Club career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Nakata began his professional career at age 18 in 1995, with J1 League side Bellmare Hiratsuka (now Shonan Bellmare). He played many matches as an offensive midfielder from his first season and the club won the championship in the 1995 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, the first Asian title in the club's history. In the final against Al-Talaba, he scored the winning goal in the 81st minute.[6] From 1996, he became a regular player and he was selected J.League Best XI in 1997. After the 1998 World Cup in France, Nakata was signed by Perugia in Italy's Serie A for 4 million U.S. dollars,[7] becoming the second Japanese player ever to appear in the Italian top league after Kazuyoshi Miura had done it for Genoa four years earlier. In his first season in Italy, Nakata scored 10 goals, his single-season highest total.

Roma[edit]

In January 2000, after one and a half seasons at Perugia, Nakata moved to Roma for 42 billion lire, helping the team win the scudetto.[8][9] The highlight of Nakata's career at Roma came on 6 May 2001 in a Serie A match against Juventus at Stadio Delle Alpi. After replacing Francesco Totti in the second half with Roma trailing 0–2, Nakata netted with a 30-yard goal beyond Juventus goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar's reach, with 11 minutes left in the match. He then helped Roma score the equalizer when his fierce drive from outside the box was parried by Van der Sar into the path of Vincenzo Montella, who scored for Roma in the last minute. The match ended with a 2–2 draw and Roma maintained a six-point margin at the top of the league table.[10]

Parma[edit]

In the summer of 2001, Nakata penned a four-year deal with Parma[11] for a transfer fee of 55 billion lire, a world record payment for an Asian player which would not be broken for 14 years.[12][13][14] He made his club debut on 8 August 2001 in their 0–2 defeat at Stadio Ennio Tardini against Lille in the first leg of the third round of the Champions League.[15] More than one month later, on 23 September, Nakata scored his first goal for Parma in Serie A at home over Brescia, which also proved to be the winning goal of the match.[16] Nakata played there for two and a half seasons, where he scored a crucial goal after coming on as a substitute in the first leg of the 2002 Coppa Italia final against Juventus,[17] which Parma eventually won.[18]

Later years[edit]

In January 2004, Nakata played for 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, which would be the last of his professional career, he scored once in the league, in a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.[19]

International career[edit]

Nakata training with Japan at the 2006 World Cup

After having represented U-17 Japan at the 1993 U-17 World Championship (where he scored a goal) and U-20 Japan at the 1995 U-20 World Championship (where he scored twice), Nakata was part of the U-23 Japan squads at the 1996 Olympics, where Japan upset Brazil,[20] and at the 2000 Olympics. His senior national team debut came in May 1997 against South Korea.[21]

He was a key member of the Japanese side that qualified for the 1998 World Cup, scoring five goals in qualification matches and setting up all three Japanese goals in the qualification play-off against Iran. He helped Japan reach the final of the 2001 Confederations Cup but left the national team before the final to join Roma for their final league matches.[22] Nakata played in all four of Japan's matches at the 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, scoring the second goal of a 2–0 first round win against Tunisia.

At the 2006 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.[23] After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, on 3 July 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."[24][25] In a 2014 interview in TMW Magazine, Nakata confirmed that he had retired at such a young age because he was no longer enjoying football, and wanted instead to see what was going on in the world.[26]

Despite Nakata playing every match in Japan's first three World Cup appearances, he was not selected for the country's Asian Cup-winning squads in 2000 and 2004. In total, he was capped 77 times for Japan, scoring 11 goals, 9 of which came in official FIFA competitions.[21]

Style of play[edit]

A quick, creative, and hard-working offensive or central midfielder, with an eye for goal, Nakata was known for his technical ability, agility, vision, passing, and his ability to make attacking runs into the penalty area and score goals; he also possessed a powerful shot from outside the box.[3][27][28][29][30]

Outside football[edit]

Outside football, Nakata has shown interest in fashion, attending runway shows, wearing designer clothing and sporting colorful haircuts. He dyed his hair blond for the 1998 World Cup, hoping to attract the attention of European scouts. Japanese hairstylist Aki Watanabe credits him as a trendsetter.[31] 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."[32] 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."[33] 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. He was featured in GQ in his home country in December 2011.[34]

Nakata (middle) at a fashion event in Tokyo, November 2016

Often regarded as a Japanese David Beckham,[35] Nakata is an editor-at-large at Monocle magazine at the invitation of his friend Tyler Brûlé, who serves as the magazine's editor-in-chief.[36] Nakata has cited the popular manga and anime series, Captain Tsubasa, as his primary inspiration in choosing football as a career.[37] In recent years, he has also been an active supporter of Special Olympics football and participated in the 2010 Special Olympics Unity Cup[38] in South Africa during the World Cup. Nakata was named a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics in 2014.[39]

Towards the end of 2015, Nakata entered into a partnership with Kee Club in Hong Kong to open Koko, a Hong Kong-based restaurant that serves sakes created by Nakata himself. He has developed his own line of sake as well as creating his own mobile educational app, "Sakenomy". Expressing interest in educating the public about sake, Nakata stated, "People recognise brands of wine but not usually brands of sake. There is a lack of information and branding when it comes to sake. That’s why I thought I needed to create a brand that people can recognise and understand. My purpose is to expand the market for all sake not just my own. You can pair any type of cuisine with sake. It can go with French, Italian, even Chinese food, not just Japanese cuisine."[40]

Media[edit]

Having been signed to sportswear company Nike, Nakata featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, in the buildup to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.[41] He appeared alongside other star football players from around the world, including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo, Thierry Henry, Roberto Carlos and Francesco Totti, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".[41][42] Nakata featured on the front cover of various Japanese editions of EA Sports’ FIFA video game series, including FIFA Football 2002. In 2018, Nakata was added as an icon to the Ultimate Team in FIFA 19.[43] In the 2012 video game Inazuma Eleven 2: Firestorm / Blizzard Nakata was added as a hidden playable player. He then served an important story role in Inazuma Eleven 3 and its respective anime series, where Nakata would serve as the captain of the Italian team Orpheus.

Career statistics[edit]

Club[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental[a] Other[b] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bellmare Hiratsuka 1995 J1 League 26 8 2 1 — 6 1 1 0 35 10
1996 26 2 3 0 12 2 3 0 — 44 4
1997 21 3 3 0 6 1 — — 30 4
1998 12 3 — — — — 12 3
Total 85 16 8 1 18 3 9 1 1 0 121 21
Perugia 1998–99 Serie A 33 10 — 0 0 — — 33 10
1999–2000 15 2 — 4 1 3 1 — 22 4
Total 48 12 — 4 1 3 1 — 55 14
Roma 1999–2000 Serie A 15 3 — 1 0 2 0 — 18 3
2000–01 15 2 — 0 0 7 1 — 22 3
Total 30 5 — 1 0 9 1 — 40 6
Parma 2001–02 Serie A 24 1 — 6 2 8 1 — 38 4
2002–03 31 4 — 1 0 4 0 1 0 37 4
2003–04 12 0 — 2 0 3 1 — 17 1
Total 67 5 — 9 2 15 2 1 0 92 9
Bologna (loan) 2003–04 Serie A 17 2 — 0 0 — — 17 2
Fiorentina 2004–05 Serie A 20 0 — 4 0 — — 24 0
Bolton Wanderers (loan) 2005–06 Premier League 21 1 3 0 2 0 6 0 — 32 1
Career total 288 41 11 1 38 6 42 5 2 0 381 53
  1. ^ Appearances in Asian Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Appearances in Japanese Super Cup and Supercoppa Italiana

International[edit]

Appearances and goals by national team and year[21]
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 1997 16 5
1998 10 1
1999 3 0
2000 4 0
2001 7 1
2002 8 2
2003 11 1
2004 2 0
2005 10 0
2006 6 1
Total 77 11
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nakata goal.
List of international goals scored by Hidetoshi Nakata[21]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 22 June 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Macau 1–0 10–0 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification first round
2 8–0
3 28 June 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Oman 1–0 1–1 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification First round
4 7 September 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Uzbekistan 3–0 6–3 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification Final round
5 8 November 1997 Tokyo, Japan  Kazakhstan 2–0 5–1 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification Final round
6 15 February 1998 Adelaide, Australia  Australia 1–0 3–0 Friendly
7 7 June 2001 Yokohama, Japan  Australia 1–0 1–0 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Semi-finals
8 27 March 2002 Łódź, Poland  Poland 1–0 2–0 Friendly
9 14 June 2002 Osaka, Japan  Tunisia 2–0 2–0 2002 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
10 18 June 2003 Saint-Denis, France  New Zealand 2–0 3–0 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Group Stage
11 28 February 2006 Dortmund, Germany  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–2 2–2 Friendly

Honours[edit]

Bellmare Hiratsuka[44]

Roma[44]

Parma[44]

Japan[45]

Individual

Achievements[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Japan" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Hidetoshi Nakata". AS Roma. Archived from the original on 9 June 2000.
  3. ^ a b Duerden, John (7 June 2015). "Countdown: The Top 10 Asian footballers of all time". ESPN. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Hidetoshi Nakata". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Arise, Sir Nak!". This Is Lancashire. 14 October 2005. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
  6. ^ "RSSSF". Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  7. ^ Paddy Agnew. "The Hidetoshi Nakata story in Serie A | Football". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  8. ^ "BILANCIO D'ESERCIZIO E CONSOLIDATO DI GRUPPO AL 30 GIUGNO 2000" (PDF). AS Roma (in Italian). Borsa Italiana Archive. 28 June 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  9. ^ "17 giugno 2001: e Roma impazzì per lo scudetto" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 17 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  10. ^ "la Repubblica/campionato_partite: Montella e Nakata rimontano la Juve". Repubblica.it. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Nakata joins Parma". BBC. 6 July 2001. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  12. ^ AS Roma SpA bilancio 30.06.2001 [AS Roma SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2001] (PDF, require login and purchase) (in Italian). CCIAA] (Italian company filing office).
  13. ^ "Parma, non solo Nakata". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 6 July 2001. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Koreans hit the big time". Korea Joongang Daily. 30 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  15. ^ Evans, Simon (9 August 2001). "Parma rocked by determined Lille". ESPN Soccernet. ESPN. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Nakata salva il Parma e la panchina di Ulivieri" [Nakata saves Parma and the bench of Ulivieri]. La República (in Italian). 23 September 2001. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  17. ^ "Coppa Italia delicately poised". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 April 2002. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Parma deny Juventus double". Dawn. Reuters. 12 May 2002. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Bolton 2-0 West Brom". BBC. 23 October 2005. Archived from the original on 13 November 2005. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  20. ^ "Japan in need of miracle". 2006 FIFA World Cup. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
  21. ^ a b c d "NAKATA Hidetoshi". Japan National Football Team Database. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013.
  22. ^ "Just making the final was a triumph for cup co-host". Sports Illustrated. 11 June 2001. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2006. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)
  23. ^ "Japan 0-0 Croatia". BBC News. 18 June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
  24. ^ "Japan and Bolton midfielder Nakata to retire". Reuters. 3 July 2006. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
  25. ^ "To live is to journey, and to journey is to live". Hidetoshi Nakata. 3 July 2006. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
  26. ^ Guerri, Cristina (January 2014). "In viaggio con Nakata" [On the road with Nakata]. TMW Magazine (in Italian). p. 10. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014. Hidetoshi Nakata ha scelto di appendere le scarpette al chiodo ancora giovanissimo. "Il motivo? Non mi divertivo più. Ho preferito scoprire cosa c'è nel mondo, e devo dire che ho imparato molto". (Hidetoshi Nakata chose to hang up his boots while still very young. "The reason? I wasn't enjoying it any more. I preferred to find out what was going on in the world, and I must say I learnt a lot".
  27. ^ "Dal Giappone con furore" [From Japan, with furor] (in Italian). Football Magazine Italia. 13 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  28. ^ "Calcio, Bologna; Signori: Nakata ci darà quel che ci manca" [Football, Bologna; Signori: Nakata will give us what we are missing]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  29. ^ James Burton. "NAKATA RETURNING TO ROMA". www.skysports.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  30. ^ "Nakata, l'antidivo che è entrato nella storia della Roma quasi senza rendersene conto" (in Italian). www.goal.com. 22 January 2023. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  31. ^ Sodje, Efe (2002). "Footballers ... haircuts. Not always the best combination!". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 April 2005. Retrieved 4 July 2006.
  32. ^ Martin, J. J. (1 July 2002). "Feast for marketers: It's all about soccer". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 27 August 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2006.
  33. ^ Wilson, Eric (22 June 2006). "BLEACH IT LIKE BECKHAM: World Cup of hair style". New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 July 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2006.
  34. ^ "GQ – December 2011 Japan free download in PDF". Storemags.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  35. ^ [1] Archived 18 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ^ "Hide Chaser ｜nakata.net -- 中田英寿オフィシャルホームページ". Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
  37. ^ '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, 1 January 2006.
  38. ^ "Special Olympics Nigeria - Initiatives - Unified Sports". Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  39. ^ "Special Olympics: Nakata Named Global Ambassador". Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  40. ^ "Q&A: Hidetoshi Nakata on his new Wyndham Street izakaya, Koko". Time Out Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  41. ^ a b "A lighter shoe, cooler kits, a faster ball, a Secret Tournament – every touch counts". NikeBiz. Nike. Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  42. ^ Cozens, Claire (3 April 2002). "Cantona hosts World Cup with a difference". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  43. ^ "FIFA 19 Ultimate Team: What Icons are in the new game and how do you get them?". Goal. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  44. ^ a b c "Hidetoshi Nakata". Eurosport. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  45. ^ "H. Nakata". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  46. ^ "Rising star Nakata wins prize after debut". Asian Football Confederation. 18 October 1997. Archived from the original on 18 October 1997.
  47. ^ "Top for Nakata". Asian Football Confederation. 9 February 1999. Archived from the original on 9 February 1999.
  48. ^ "FIFA Confederations Cup Korea/Japan 2001 | Awards". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
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  50. ^ "Jリーグが開幕20周年を迎える" (PDF). J League. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  51. ^ "Legends". Golden Foot. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  52. ^ "IFFHS announce the 48 football legend players". IFFHS. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  53. ^ a b "The best Asian team at the FIFA World Cup announced!". Asian Football Confederation. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  54. ^ "Calcio News 1998–1999 (data of 2/1)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  55. ^ "Calcio News 1999–2000 (data of 1/26)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  56. ^ "FIFA World player 2002". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.

External links[edit]

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