Natsuko Hara

Natsuko Hara
原菜摘子
Personal information
Full name	Natsuko Hara
Date of birth	March 1, 1989 (age 32)
Place of birth	Ome, Tokyo, Japan
Height	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
2001–2006	Nippon TV Beleza
Senior career*
Years	Team
2006–2015	Nippon TV Beleza
Total
National team
2008	Japan U-20
2010	Japan
Honours
Nippon TV Beleza
Representing Japan
AFC U-19 Women's Championship
AFC U-16 Women's Championship
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Natsuko Hara (原菜摘子, Hara Natsuko, born March 1, 1989) is a former Japanese football player. She played for Japan national team.

Club career[]

Hara was born in Ome on March 1, 1989. She was promoted to Nippon TV Beleza from youth team in 2006. Especially since 2009, she played in many games as a successor of Japan national team player Homare Sawa moved to United States. She played until 2015. In 10 seasons, she played 149 matches in L.League and she was selected Best Eleven in 2015.^[1]

National team career[]

In April 2005, when Hara was 16 years old, she was selected Japan U-17 national team for 2005 AFC U-17 Championship. At the tournament, she played as captain and she became top scorer with 12 goals. She was named Asian Footballer of the Year. In November 2008, Natsuko Hara was selected for the Japan U-20 national team for the 2008 U-20 World Cup.^[2] On January 13, 2010, she played for the Japan national team for the first time against Denmark.^[3] She played two games for Japan in 2010.