Koji Nakata
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Koji Nakata | ||
| Date of birth | 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. |
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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.
He announced that he will get married with Nao Nagasawa on February 22, 2014. [1]
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. 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. 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.
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