Hidetoshi Nakata - Footballer and Fashion Icon
Hidetoshi Nakata, the cult hero who put Asian football on the map.
The man nicknamed the ‘Asian David Beckham’ is widely considered as the greatest Japanese player of all time.
During his 11 year career, he played in 3 WC’s, earnt legendary status in Italian football and he became a fashion icon. The School of Football sums up the career of Hidetoshi Nakata.
Early years and Serie A debut
Born in Yamanashi in 1977 he began his career with J1 League side, Bellmare Hiratsula as an 18 year old. In total the midfielder spent 3 years there scoring 21 goals in 121 games helping them win the Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1996. His form in Asia saw him earn a move to Serie A side Perugia.
He made his debut in 1998 becoming just the second Japanese player to play in Italy. At Perugia, he scored 14 goals in 55 games catching the eye of Roma who bought him in January 2000.
Hidetoshi Nakata - Icon
Roma - Parma - Fiorentina
At Roma Nakata played 40 games and he scored 6 goals. In May 2001 he famously came off the bench against Juventus with Roma losing 2-0 and in the second half he scored a screamer past Edwin Van der Sar before playing a role in an equaliser which maintained Roma’s 6 point lead at the top. They went on to win the Scudetto that season.
Ahead of the following season, Nakata moved to Parma and in 3 years he scored 9 times in 94 games. His crowning moment came in the 2002 Coppa Italia Final. In the 1st leg, Parma were trailing Juve 2-0 and in the 90th minute Nakata popped up with the away goal to make it 2-1. In the 2nd leg, Parma won 1-0 which gave them the trophy on away goals.
Nakata spent some of the 2003/04 season on loan at Bologna before he signed permanently with Fiorentina in 2004. He played 20 times for Fiorentina and in 2005 he was sent on loan to Bolton Wanderers. He scored 1 goal in 32 games for Bolton, before he officially announced his retirement at the end of the season, aged just 29.
At international level Nakata won 77 caps for Japan, scored 11 goals and he played in 3 World Cups. For the 1998 World Cup, Nakata dyed his hair blonde in the hope he would attract European scouts, how right he was.
Outside of football, Nakata dedicated his life to fashion and in 2010 he was a model for Calvin Klein, he has featured in GQ and he is an editor for Monocle the lifestyle magazine, which is The Sporting Blog editors favourite publication.
