Kōji Nakata
Kōji Nakata| Personal information |
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| Full name |
Kōji Nakata |
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| Date of birth |
(1979-07-09) 9 July 1979 |
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| Place of birth |
Otsu, Shiga, Japan |
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| Height |
1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) |
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| Playing position |
Defender |
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| Club information |
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Current team |
Retired |
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| Youth career |
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| 1995–1997 |
Teikyo High School |
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| Senior career* |
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| Years |
Team |
Apps† |
(Gls)† |
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| 1998–2004 |
Kashima Antlers |
144 |
(27) |
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| 2005–2006 |
Marseille |
9 |
(0) |
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| 2006–2008 |
Basel |
62 |
(3) |
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| 2008–2014 |
Kashima Antlers |
122 |
(6) |
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| National team‡ |
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| 2000–2007[1] |
Japan |
57 |
(2) |
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|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 January 2015.
† Appearances (goals)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 February 2010 |
Kōji Nakata (中田浩二 Nakata Kōji; born 9 July 1979 in Otsu, Shiga, Japan) is a retired Japanese football (soccer) player who played at both the Football World Cup 2002, and the Football World Cup 2006.
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 FC 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 FC 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 J. 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 Team Career Stats
- As of 1 January 2015
National Team Career Stats
Appearances in major competitions
Goals for Senior National Team
[1]
[1]
| Japan national team |
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| Year | Apps | Goals |
|
| 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 |
Honours
Club
- Kashima Antlers
- Olympique Marseille
- FC Basel
International
Individual
References
External links
Japan
Bahrain 
China PR