Makoto Hasebe (長谷部 誠,Hasebe Makoto, born 18 January 1984) is a Japanese former professionalfootball coach and former player who played as acentre-back ordefensive midfielder. He is currently the assistant coach ofJapan national team.
Hasebe made his senior debut with the Japan national team in 2006. He earned 114international caps and scored twice, making him one of ten most capped players in the history of the team. He additionally served as captain from 2010 to his retirement from international football in 2018. He was part of the Japanese squads at the2010,2014 and2018 editions of theFIFA World Cups, as well as2011 and2015 editions of theAFC Asian Cups. He captained the starting line-up that won the2011 Asian Cup final.
After graduating from Fujieda Higashi High School in 2002, he joinedUrawa Red Diamonds. He became a regular of their first team in the 2003 season. He played mainly as defensive midfielder withKeita Suzuki. In 2004, he was honoured with theJ.League Cup New Hero Award and selected as a member of J.League team of the year. He was also the Urawa Fans' Player of the Year that season. The Reds won the championship in the2006 J1 League for the first time in the club history and the first Asian title of the2007 AFC Champions League.
It was reported in October 2007 that ItalianSerie A sideA.C. Siena was keen to sign Hasebe the following January.[3]
However, he signed forBundesliga side Wolfsburg becoming the first Japanese player ever to play for the Wolves.[4] In 2009, he became the second Japanese player to win the Bundesliga title.
On 29 April 2010, it was announced that Hasebe extended his contract with Wolfsburg until 2012.[5]
On 17 September 2011, Hasebe played in goal for the final nine minutes of an away match against1899 Hoffenheim.[6] Wolfsburg lost the match 3–1, with Hasebe conceding Hoffenheim's third goal on 85 minutes. On 3 December 2011, he played his 100th Bundesliga match against1. FSV Mainz 05.
Hasebe moved to Bundesliga teamEintracht Frankfurt for the 2014–15 season, where he was an instant starter, missing just one competitive match in his first season. In the 2015–16 season, he was also a midfielder for Frankfurt, who only managed to stay in the relegation play-off against Hasebe's former club Nuremberg. Under Frankfurt's new coach Niko Kovač, the Japanese player was called up for the first time at centre-back at the end of October 2016 as a central link in a five-man backline and played in this position from then on. He played in the final of the DFB-Pokal that season, which was lost 2–1 to Borussia Dortmund, although Hasebe's season had already ended in March 2017 due to knee surgery.
In the 2017–18 season, he finished eighth in the Bundesliga with Eintracht and also played in the DFB-Pokal final with them again. There, in May 2018, the team won its first title in 30 years after a 3–1 victory over FC Bayern Munich and qualified for the group stage of the Europa League as a result. In the latter competition, he played full time in all 14 of his team's matches the following season and, after victories over Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan and Benfica Lisbon, they advanced to the semi-finals against Chelsea FC, to whom they were defeated on penalties.
Due to his strong performances during the season, he was rated "International Class" bykicker sports magazine in both the winter of 2018–19 and summer of 2019, and was included in the end-of-season team by the Association of Contract Footballers. With his 309th appearance on 6 June 2020 against1. FSV Mainz 05, Hasebe became the record Asian player in the Bundesliga.
At the start of the 2020–21 season, the Japanese player was the oldest player in the Bundesliga at the age of 36. FollowingDavid Abraham's departure of the team in January 2021, Hasebe led Eintracht onto the field as captain for most of the time without a new permanent captain. On 18 February 2022, Hasebe signed a contract extension till 2027. His original contract was due to expire this summer. He will spend one more year as a player before taking on a coaching role in the summer of 2023.[8] On 18 May 2022, Hasebe wonUEFA Europa League title, coming on as a substitute in the final againstRangers F.C.[9]
On 17 April 2024, he officially announced his retirement at the end of the2023–24 Bundesliga season after roughly 700 games and 22 years.[10]
After 2006 World Cup, Hasebe was soon capped for Japan under new managerIvica Osim. Although he played three matches under Osim in 2006, he could not play at all in 2007.[11] Osim suffered a stroke in November 2007 andTakeshi Okada replaced him as manager in December. In May 2008, Hasebe played for Japan againstIvory Coast for the first time in one and a half a year.[11] From that point onwards, he regularly featured in the squad as a defensive midfielder alongsideYasuhito Endō.
Hasebe was the onfield captain at the2010 FIFA World Cup, asYoshikatsu Kawaguchi was the third-choice goalkeeper, and was captain at the2011 AFC Asian Cup. He captained the team for three World Cup campaigns, until he announced his international retirement after Japan lost 3–2 againstBelgium in the Round of 16 of2018 FIFA World Cup.[12][13] At the 2010 World Cup, Hasebe played all four matches and Japan qualified to the knockout stage.
After the 2010 World Cup, Hasebe also served as a captain under new managerAlberto Zaccheroni. In 2011, Japan won the champions in2011 Asian Cup. He played all six matches and scored a goal againstSyria.[11] From late 2013, Hasebe played as defensive midfielder withHotaru Yamaguchi instead of Endo. In 2014, he played three matches in the2014 World Cup.[11] However, Japan was eliminated in the group stage.
Hasebe played the entirety of all four matches at the2015 Asian Cup, where Japan was eliminated in the quarter-finals.[11] His appearances were limited in 2017 due to injuries. He was included in the squad for the2018 World Cup. He played all four matches as a defensive midfielder alongsideGaku Shibasaki; Japan qualified for the knockout stage but was eliminated in the Round of 16. Following the World Cup, he retired from the national team, having played a total of 114 games and scoring two goals.[14]
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