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.
Nakata moved from Japanese Kashima Antlers to France at the start of 2005, when former Japan national team managerPhilippe Troussier, then theOlympique de 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 early 2006 he moved to Switzerland's top teamFC Basel.[3]
On 1 February 2006, it was announced thatFC Basel had signed Nakata on a two-and-a-half-year contract. He was the first Japanese player to sign for a Swiss top-flight club.[4] He joined Basel's first team during the winter break of their2005–06 season under head coachChristian Gross, who was in his seventh season with the club in that position. After playing in two test games, Nakata played hisdomestic league debut for the club in the home game in theSt. Jakob-Park on 19 February as Basel played a 1–1 draw withSchaffhausen.[5] Just one week later he scored his first goal for his new club on 26 February, also in a home game, it was the equaliser after Basel fell behind and eventually the team won 2–1 againstYverdon-Sport.[6] Basel had started the season well and led the championship right until the last day of the league campaign. On the final day of the league season Basel played at home againstZürich. A last-minute goal from Zürich'sIulian Filipescu meant the final score was 1-2 in favour of the away team and it gave FCZ their first national championship since 1980–81. The title for Basel was lost on goal difference.[7]
FC Basel's European campaign started in the first qualifying stage of the2006–07 UEFA Cup, here they beatKazakhi sideFC Tobol 3–1 on aggregate. In the second qualifying round they were drawn againstFC Vaduz fromLiechtenstein, narrowly progressing on theaway goals rule after a 2–2 aggregate draw. In the first round Basel won 7–2 on aggregate againstFK Rabotnički to qualified for the group stage. Here Basel played their first match at home againstFeyenoord, this ended in a 1–1 draw. Their second was away and FCB lost 3–0 againstBlackburn Rovers. At home againstAS Nancy the match was drawn 2–2 and the final game ended with a 3–1 defeat againstWisła Kraków. Basel ended the group stage in last position in the table and were eliminated. Nakata played in nine of these ten matches.[8] Nakata scored another goal for the team on 15 October 2006 in the away game in theStadion Breite, but it could not help the team, as Basel were defeated 4–2 bySchaffhausen.[9] At the end of the2006–07 Super League season Basel were runners-up, one point behind championship winnersZürich. Nakata played in 34 of the 36 league matches.[10] In the Swiss Cup Basel advanced to the final, beating FC Liestal in the first round,Lugano,FC Baulmes,Aarau andWil in the semi-final. In the final they playedLuzern and won this 1–0 thanks to a penalty goal in the third minute of added time. Nakata played in five of the six cup games.[11]
Basel played in the2007–08 UEFA Cup. Winning both matches in the qualification round and both matches in the play-off round, they team advanced to the group stage, which they ended undefeated in second position, after playing 1–0 at home againstStade Rennes, 0–0 away againstDinamo Zagreb, 1–0 at home againstBrann and 1–1 away againstHamburger SV, to continue the knockout stage. But then they were eliminated here bySporting CP. Nakata played in five of these European games.[12] At the end of the 2007–08 season he won theDouble with the club. They won theLeague Championship title with four points advantage over second placedYoung Boys. Nakata played in 18 of the 36 league games.[13] In theSwiss Cup via FC Léchelles,SC Binningen,Grasshopper Club,Stade Nyonnais and in the semi-finalThun, Basel advanced to the final, and winning this 4–1 againstAC Bellinzona they won the competition. Nakata played in three of the six games, including the final.[14]
Nakata left Basel at the end of the season. During his time with the club, he played a total of 112 games for Basel scoring a total of six goals. 62 of these games were in theSwiss Super League, eight in theSwiss Cup, 14 in theUEFA Cup and 28 were friendly games. He scored three goals in the domestic league, two in the cup and the other two were scored during the test games.[15]
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 champions2008,2009 J1 League,2010 Emperor's Cup,2011 and2012 J.League Cup. He retired end of 2014 season.
On 5 February 2000, Nakata debuted forJapan national team againstMexico. In September, he was elected U23 Japan for2000 Summer Olympics. Although he played as regular player, he was hurt in third match againstBrazil and he could not play after the match.
In 2001 and 2002, Nakata played all matches for Japan including2001 Confederations Cup and2002 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 managerZico. Although his opportunity to play decreased, he was elected Japan for many competition,2003,2005 Confederations Cup,2004 Asian Cup and2006 World Cup. At 2004 Asian Cup, he played 4 matches and scored 2 goals in semifinal andfinal, and Japan won the champions. He played 57 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 2007.[16]
