Kōji Nakata

For other people named Kōji Nakata, see Kōji Nakata (disambiguation).
Koji Nakata
Personal information
Full name Koji Nakata
Date of birth (1979-07-09) July 9, 1979
Place of birth Otsu, Shiga, Japan
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Defender, Midfielder
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)
2000–2007 Japan 57 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Koji Nakata (中田 浩二 Nakata Kōji, born July 9, 1979) is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. He played at both the 2002, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[1]

He announced that he will get married with Nao Nagasawa on February 22, 2014.

Football 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. Although his preferred position is at defensive midfield, his versatility means he can also operate as left wing-back, his normal position with Basel.

In 2004, during the Asian Cup final versus China, Nakata gained notoriety amongst Chinese fans by scoring the second Japanese goal with his hand.[2] Despite Chinese protests, the goal was still allowed. The Chinese media refer to this incident as the "Hand of Koji" incident, alluding to Diego Maradona's infamous hand of god goal.

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.[3] Kōji was highly rated by Japan coach Zico and is sometimes compared to Junichi Inamoto, also a defensive midfielder for Japan. He returned to J1 League club Kashima Antlers in July 2008.

In October 2008 Nakata underwent knee surgery, effectively ruling him out for the remainder of the 2008 J. League season after appearing in 12 games.

Club statistics

Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kashima Antlers1998510000–51
19991742010–204
20002945222368
20012583160–349
20022965030376
2003183–2230235
20042113220–263
Total144271851643018136
Olympique Marseille2004–0550–––50
2005–0640–1050100
Total90001050150
Basel2005–06101–––101
2006–0734150–90481
2007–0818121–50252
Total6237100140834
Kashima Antlers200890–1020120
2009221401020291
2010323611062456
2011262103061363
2012500020–70
20132502060–330
2014300010–40
Total122613115016316610
Career total 3373638732438344550

National Team statistics

Appearances in major competitions

Team Competition Category Appearances Goals Team Record
Start Sub
 JapanAFC Youth Championship 1998U-192nd Place
 Japan1999 FIFA World Youth ChampionshipU-207002nd Place
 Japan2000 Summer OlympicsU-23300Quarter-finals
 Japan2001 FIFA Confederations CupSenior2nd Place
 Japan2002 FIFA World CupSenior400Round of 16
 Japan2003 FIFA Confederations CupSenior110Group Stage
 Japan2004 AFC Asian CupSenior132Champions
 Japan2005 FIFA Confederations CupSenior020Group Stage
 Japan2006 FIFA World CupSenior010Group Stage

Goals for Senior National Team

[1]

# 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

[1]

Japan national team
YearAppsGoals
200070
2001130
2002130
200370
200462
200580
200620
200710
Total572

Honours

Club

Kashima Antlers
Olympique Marseille
FC Basel

International

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 "NAKATA Koji". Japan National Football Team Database.
  2. ↑ Japan crush Chinese dreams to keep Asian crown
  3. ↑ "Zwei neue Nationalspieler für den FCB" (in German). FC Basel. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
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