Kōji Nakata

Japanese association football player

Koji Nakata (中田 浩二, Nakata Koji, born July 9, 1979) is a former Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Koji Nakata
Personal information
Full name Koji Nakata
Date of birth (1979-07-09) July 9, 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Otsu, Shiga, Japan
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+12 in)
Position(s) Defender, Midfielder
Youth career
1995–1997 Teikyo High School
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
Kashima Antlers
Winner J1 League 1998
Winner J1 League 2000
Winner J1 League 2001
Winner J1 League 2008
Winner J1 League 2009
Winner J.League Cup 2000
Winner J.League Cup 2002
Winner J.League Cup 2011
Winner J.League Cup 2012
Runner-up J.League Cup 1999
Runner-up J.League Cup 2003
Winner Emperor's Cup 2000
Winner Emperor's Cup 2010
Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2002
Representing  Japan
FIFA Confederations Cup
Silver medal – second place 2001 Korea-Japan
AFC Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 2004 China
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Silver medal – second place 1999 Nigeria
AFC U-20 Asian Cup
Silver medal – second place 1998 Thailand
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

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Nakata was born in Otsu on July 9, 1979. After graduating from Teikyo High School, he joined J1 League club 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. 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.

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 February 5, 2000, Nakata debuted for Japan national team against Mexico. In September, he was selected 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.

Statistics

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[1][2]

Club statistics League CupLeague CupContinentalTotal
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
JapanLeague Emperor's Cup J.League Cup AsiaTotal
1998 Kashima Antlers J1 League 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 0 0 2 2 3 0 23 5
2004 21 1 3 2 2 0 - 26 3
FranceLeague Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue EuropeTotal
2004/05 Olympique Marseille Ligue 1 5 0 0 0 - - 5 0
2005/06 4 0 1 0 - 3 0 8 0
SwitzerlandLeague Schweizer Cup League Cup EuropeTotal
2005/06 Basel Super League 10 1 0 0 - - 10 1
2006/07 34 1 5 0 - 9 0 48 1
2007/08 18 1 2 1 - 3 0 23 2
JapanLeague Emperor's Cup J.League Cup AsiaTotal
2008 Kashima Antlers J1 League 9 0 0 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
2014 3 0 0 0 1 0 - 4 0
Country Japan 266 33 31 6 31 4 19 0 347 43
France 9 0 1 0 - 3 0 13 0
Switzerland 62 3 7 1 - 12 0 81 4
Total 337 36 39 7 31 4 34 0 441 47

[3]

Japan national team
YearAppsGoals
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

References

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  1. Kōji Nakata at National-Football-Teams.com  
  2. Kōji Nakata at J.League (in Japanese)  
  3. Japan National Football Team Database

Other websites

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