Kōji Nakata

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Koji Nakata
中田 浩二
Personal information
Full name Koji Nakata
Date of birth (1979-07-09) 9 July 1979 (age 42)
Place of birth Otsu, Shiga, Japan
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender, midfielder
Youth career
1995–1997
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2004 Kashima Antlers 144 (27)
2005–2006 Olympique Marseille 9 (0)
2006–2008 Basel 62 (3)
2008–2014 Kashima Antlers 122 (6)
Total 337 (36)
National team
1999 Japan U-20 7 (0)
2000 Japan U-23 3 (0)
2000–2007 Japan 57 (2)
Honours
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Koji Nakata (中田 浩二, Nakata Kōji, born 9 July 1979) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defender or. midfielder. At international level, he represented Japan national team playing at both the 2002, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[1]

Club career[]

The 'other Nakata', as he is known to most non-Japanese fans, is a left-footed midfielder. A very versatile player, Nakata has established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders for Japan.

Nakata was born in Otsu on 9 July 1979. After graduating from high school, he joined Kashima Antlers in 1998. Japan national team players Masashi Motoyama, Mitsuo Ogasawara and Hitoshi Sogahata are Nakata's contemporaries. He debuted as defensive midfielder in first season and the club won the champions 1998 J1 League. From 2000, he became a regular player and constituted midfielder with Yasuto Honda, Bismarck, Motoyama and Ogasawara. In 2000, the club won all three major title in Japan J1 League, J.League Cup and Emperor's Cup. In 2001, the club won J1 League and he was also elected Best Eleven. the club also won 2002 J.League Cup.

Nakata moved from Japanese giants Kashima Antlers to France at the start of 2005 when former Japan national team manager Philippe Troussier, then the Olympique Marseille coach, signed him in a deal. After an understandably unhappy season in France (Troussier was sacked just a few months later), the frozen-out Nakata jumped at the chance to leave and by early 2006 had moved to Switzerland's top team Basel where he played as a defender.[2]

Nakata returned to Kashima Antlers in July 2008. He played at many defensive position, defensive midfielder, left side-back and center-back. The club won the champions 2008, 2009 J1 League, 2010 Emperor's Cup, 2011 and 2012 J.League Cup. He retired end of 2014 season.

International career[]

Although Nakata played as defensive midfielder at the club, he played as left-back of three backs defense at U-20, U-23 and Senior national team under manager Philippe Troussier.

In April 1999, Nakata played for U-20 Japan at 1999 World Youth Championship. He played all 7 matches with defender Kazuki Teshima and Shigeki Tsujimoto, and Japan won the 2nd place.

On 5 February 2000, Nakata debuted for Japan national team against Mexico. In September, he was elected U-23 Japan for 2000 Summer Olympics. Although he played as regular player, he got hurt in third match against Brazil and he could not play after the match.

In 2001 and 2002, Nakata played all matches for Japan including 2001 Confederations Cup and 2002 World Cup. At Confederations Cup, Japan won the 2nd place. At 2002 World Cup, he played full-time all 4 matches.

After 2002 World Cup, Nakata played as defensive midfielder under new manager Zico. Although his opportunity to play decreased, he was elected Japan for many competition, 2003, 2005 Confederations Cup, 2004 Asian Cup and 2006 World Cup. At 2004 Asian Cup, he played 4 matches and scored 2 goals in semifinal and final, and Japan won the champions. He played 57 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 2007.[3]

Personal life[]

Nakata announced that he will get married with Nao Nagasawa on 22 February 2014. www.orendsrange.com

Career statistics[]

Club[]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kashima Antlers 1998 5 1 0 0 0 0 – 5 1
1999 17 4 2 0 1 0 – 20 4
2000 29 4 5 2 2 2 36 8
2001 25 8 3 1 6 0 – 34 9
2002 29 6 5 0 3 0 37 6
2003 18 3 – 2 2 3 0 23 5
2004 21 1 3 2 2 0 – 26 3
Total 144 27 18 5 16 4 3 0 181 36
Olympique Marseille 2004–05 5 0 – – – 5 0
2005–06 4 0 – 1 0 5 0 10 0
Total 9 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 15 0
Basel 2005–06 10 1 – – – 10 1
2006–07 34 1 5 0 – 9 0 48 1
2007–08 18 1 2 1 – 5 0 25 2
Total 62 3 7 1 0 0 14 0 83 4
Kashima Antlers 2008 9 0 – 1 0 2 0 12 0
2009 22 1 4 0 1 0 2 0 29 1
2010 32 3 6 1 1 0 6 2 45 6
2011 26 2 1 0 3 0 6 1 36 3
2012 5 0 0 0 2 0 – 7 0
2013 25 0 2 0 6 0 – 33 0
3 0 0 0 1 0 – 4 0
Total 122 6 13 1 15 0 16 3 166 10
Career total 337 36 38 7 32 4 38 3 445 50

International[]

Appearances and goals by national team and year[3]
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 2000 7 0
2001 13 0
2002 13 0
2003 7 0
2004 6 2
2005 8 0
2006 2 0
2007 1 0
Total 57 2
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nakata goal.[1]
List of international goals scored by Kōji Nakata
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 3 August 2004 Jinan, China  Bahrain 4–3 Won 2004 AFC Asian Cup semi-final
2 7 August 2004 Beijing, China  China PR 3–1 Won 2004 AFC Asian Cup final

Appearances in major competitions[]

Team Competition Category Appearances Goals Team Record
Start Sub
 Japan AFC Youth Championship 1998 U-19 2nd Place
 Japan 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship U-20 7 0 0 2nd Place
 Japan 2000 Summer Olympics U-23 3 0 0 Quarter-finals
 Japan 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Senior 2nd Place
 Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup Senior 4 0 0 Round of 16
 Japan 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Senior 1 1 0 Group Stage
 Japan 2004 AFC Asian Cup Senior 1 3 2 Champions
 Japan 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Senior 0 2 0 Group Stage
 Japan 2006 FIFA World Cup Senior 0 1 0 Group Stage

Honours[]

Club[]

Kashima Antlers

Marseille

FC Basel

International[]

Individual[]

  • J. League Best Eleven: 2001
  • J. League Cup MVP: 2000

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "NAKATA Koji". Japan National Football Team Database. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Zwei neue Nationalspieler für den FCB" (in German). FC Basel. 31 January 2006. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Japan National Football Team Database
  4. ^ "Marseille 5-1 Deportivo (Aggregate: 5 - 3)". uefa.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

External links[]

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