Hidetoshi Nakata

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Eastern name order Template:Infobox football biography

Template:Nihongo 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 late 1990s and early 2000s,<ref name="CNN">Template:Cite web</ref> Nakata became the first ever AFC player to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or.

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).<ref>Template:Cite Sports-Reference</ref> 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.<ref name="nakata_knight">Template:Cite news</ref> 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

Early career

Nakata began his professional career at the age of 18 in 1995, with J1 League side Bellmare Hiratsuka (now Shonan Bellmare). He played many matches as an attacking midfielder from his first season and the club won 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 1996, he became a regular player and he was selected for the 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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Parma

In the summer of 2001, Nakata penned a four-year deal with Parma<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> for a transfer fee of 55 billion lire, a world record payment for an Asian player which would not be broken for 14 years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which Parma eventually won.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Later years

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

International career

File:Hidetoshi Nakata, preparing for Football World Cup 2006.jpg
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,<ref name="FIFAwc_miracle">Template:Cite news</ref> and at the 2000 Olympics. His senior national team debut came in May 1997 against South Korea.<ref name=nationalteam>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="AP_confedcup">Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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."<ref name="reuters_retirement">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

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.<ref name=nationalteam/>

Style of play

A quick, creative, and hard-working attacking 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.<ref name="CNN"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Outside football

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.<ref name="bbc_hair">Template:Cite news</ref> 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."<ref name="iht_fashion">Template:Cite news</ref> 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."<ref name="nyt_fashion">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:サッカー元日本代表 (30907917805).jpg
Nakata (middle) at a fashion event in Tokyo, November 2016

Often regarded as a Japanese David Beckham,<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nakata has cited the popular manga and anime series, Captain Tsubasa, as his primary inspiration in choosing football as a career.<ref>'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.</ref> In recent years, he has also been an active supporter of Special Olympics football and participated in the 2010 Special Olympics Unity Cup<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in South Africa during the World Cup. Nakata was named a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

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.<ref name="Nike"/> 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".<ref name="Nike">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup ContinentalTemplate:Efn OtherTemplate:Efn 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

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International

Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref name=nationalteam/>
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<ref name=nationalteam/>
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 22 June 1997 Tokyo, Japan Template:Fb 1–0 10–0 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification first round
2 8–0
3 28 June 1997 Tokyo, Japan Template:Fb 1–0 1–1 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification First round
4 7 September 1997 Tokyo, Japan Template:Fb 3–0 6–3 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification Final round
5 8 November 1997 Tokyo, Japan Template:Fb 2–0 5–1 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification Final round
6 15 February 1998 Adelaide, Australia Template:Fb 1–0 3–0 Friendly
7 7 June 2001 Yokohama, Japan Template:Fb 1–0 1–0 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Semi-finals
8 27 March 2002 Łódź, Poland Template:Fb 1–0 2–0 Friendly
9 14 June 2002 Osaka, Japan Template:Fb 2–0 2–0 2002 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
10 18 June 2003 Saint-Denis, France Template:Fb 2–0 3–0 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Group Stage
11 28 February 2006 Dortmund, Germany Template:Fb 2–2 2–2 Friendly

Honours

Bellmare Hiratsuka<ref name="eurosport.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Roma<ref name="eurosport.com"/>

Parma<ref name="eurosport.com"/>

Japan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Individual

Achievements

Notes and references

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