5 Koji Nakata Position: MF Born:09-Jul-1979 Height/Weight:182/74 Birthplace:Shiga Previous Teams:Gotogaoka Jr.High, Teikyo High School, Kashima Antlers, Olympique Marseille Appearances (J1/J2):144/0 Goals:27/0 First Appearance: 04-Apr-1998 Kashima Antlers - vs - Kyoto Purple Sanga (at Kashima Stadium) First Goal :05-Aug-1998 Kashima Antlers - vs - Cerezo Osaka (at Kashima Stadium)

J.League Statistics Year Team Matches Goals 1998 Kashima Antlers 5 1 1999 Kashima Antlers 17 4 2000 Kashima Antlers 29 4 2001 Kashima Antlers 25 8 2002 Kashima Antlers 29 6 2003 Kashima Antlers 18 3 2004 Kashima Antlers 21 1 TOTAL 144 27 France Ligue Un -2005 Olympique Marseille 5 0 2005/06 Olympique Marseille 4 0 TOTAL 9 0 Swiss League 2005/06 FC Basel 1893 10 1 2006/07 FC Basel 1893 34 1 TOTAL 44 2

While he may sometimes be referred to as "the other Nakata", Koji was second to none in the Antlers midfield, during their "glory years". A very versatile player, Nakata established himself as one of the best defensive midfields in Japan, but he was used as the left side defender in Phillippe Troussier's flat three. During the Troussier reign, Nakata was such a steady presence at left back that he quietly collected more caps than any other Japanese player. However, he was clearly relieved when Zico took over and allowed him to shift back to his preferred role in defensive midfield. Nakata has a very hard and accurate shot, and is capable of dribbling the ball as well as many offensive midfielders. His performance in the World Cup was extremely impressive, and quickly let the world know that there was more than one Nakata to watch out for on the Japanese team. Tragically, however, just when it seemed that Nakata was on his way to national team stardom and a possible move to an overseas club, a horrendous knee injury dealt him a brutal blow, putting him out of action for close to a year and threatening the future of his football career. He was sidelined for nearly a year, and did not return to action until the final few months of the 2004 season. Nevertheless, after his injury he quickly re-established himself a a dependable force in deep midfield, and began to get some national team caps by the end of the year. At the start of 2005, Nakata was ready to start a new chapter in his career.

Unfortunately for Nakata, as well as for his fans, the next chapter would turn out to be a tale of pride and comeuppance, of greed and deciet worthy of being immortalised in a Shakespearean tragedy. Former Japan national team manager Phillippe Troussier consired with the management of Olympique Marseille and Nakata's own agent to snatch Nakata away from Kashima Antlers without paying so much as a penny for their efforts to develop the player. Nakata seemed genuinely upset about screwing over his former club, but was told that unless he played along with Troussier, he could forget about playing in Europe. Foolishly, it would seem, Nakata seized the opportunity, failing to recognise that any club willing to violate the bounds of honesty, fair play and good faith in order to steal him from the Antlers would not think twice about screwing him over as well, when the time came.

Nakata had a disastrous start in his first few forays in Ligue Un, and when Troussier got the axe, just a few months later, Nakata was blithely tossed aside by Troussier's replacement, Fernandez. He played in only ten times, of which only four appearances were in league matches. By the end of 2005 he had been relegated to playing with the youth team at Marseille, and began actively seeking a new place to call home.

There was some talk of offers from Belgium, Israel, Ukraine, and even a possibility that Kashima would rescue him if all else failed. Koji had his heart set on staying in Europe, and though Marseille were gung ho about giving him to Israel's Betar Jerusalem, Koji turned down the deal. He said no again to an offer coming from the Ukraine league. This did not put him in good standing at Marseille, and by then the club wanted nothing to do with him. He was forced to train on his own after being taken out of training sessions with the amateur/reserve team. A transfer to Basel 1893, inked just days before the January window closed, rescued Nakata from the brink of complete disaster, and allowed him to revive his career albeit in a much smaller league.

Basel is a strong team that includes several Swiss internationals, and frequently has opportunities to play in the UEFA Cup. Nakata lost a lot of playing time over three years when he was iinjured, and then at Marseille. Though his popularity in Japan plunged, based on the way he treated his former team, most people realise that he was something of an "innocent bystander", and has already paid a price in terms of the interruption of his playing career. At Basel, he at last seems to have the opportunity to get back on track, and start reviving a career which, for a while at least, seemed to be lost in a fog.

National Team Data & History
NT Caps: 55 NT Goals: 2 Tournaments: World Youth Championships (1999) Sydney Olympics (2000) Confederations Cup (2001) World Cup Korea/Japan (2002) Confederations Cup (2003) Asian Cup (2004) Confederations Cup (2005)
Date	Vs.	Score	Location	Status	Min.	G
2-5-2000	Mexico	0-1	Hong Kong	Start	90	0
2-13-2000	Singapore	3-0	Macao Stadium	Start	90	0
2-20-2000	Macao	3-0	Macao Stadium	Start	90	0
3-15-2000	China	0-0	Kobe Universiade	Start	67	0
6-6-2000	Jamaica	4-0	Rabat, Morocco	Start	90	0
6-18-2000	Bolivia	2-0	Yokohama Int'l	Start	90	0
3-25-2001	France	0-5	St.Denis,France	Sub	12	0
4-25-2001	Spain	0-1	Cordoba, Spain	Start	90	0
5-31-2001	Canada	3-0	Niigata Stadium	Start	90	0
6-2-2001	Cameroon	2-0	Niigata Stadium	Start	90	0
6-4-2001	Brazil	3-0	Kashima Stadium	U.R.	--	--
6-7-2001	Australia	1-0	Yokohama Int'l	Start	90	0
6-10-2001	France	0-1	Yokohama Int'l	Start	90	0
7-1-2001	Paraguay	1-0	Sapporo Dome	Start	90	0
7-4-2001	Yugoslavia	1-0	Oita "Big Eye"	Start	90	0
8-15-2001	Australia	3-0	Shizuoka Stadium	Start	90	0
10-4-2001	Senegal	0-2	Lens, France	Start	90	0
10-4-2001	Nigeria	2-2	Southampton, England	Start	90	0
11-7-2001	Italy	1-1	Saitama Stadium	Start	90	0
3-21-2002	Ukraine	1-0	Nagai Stadium	Start	90	0
3-27-2002	Poland	1-0	Lodz, Poland	Start	90	0
4-17-2002	Costa Rica	1-1	Yokohama Int'l	Start	90	0
4-29-2002	Slovakia	1-0	Nat'l Stadium	Start	90	0
5-2-2002	Honduras	3-3	Nat'l Stadium	Start	90	0
5-14-2002	Norway	0-3	Oslo, Norway	Start	81	0
5-25-2002	Sweden	1-1	Nat'l Stadium	Start	90	0
6-4-2002	Belgium	2-2	Saitama Stadium	Start	90	0
6-9-2002	Russia	1-0	Yokohama Int'l	Start	90	0
6-14-2002	Tunisia	2-0	Nagai Stadium	Start	90	0
6-18-2002	Turkey	0-1	Miyagi Stadium	Start	90	0
10-16-2002	Jamaica	1-1	Nat'l Stadium	Sub	8	0
11-20-2002	Argentina	0-2	Saitama Stadium	U.R.	--	--
3-28-2003	Uruguay	2-2	Nat'l Stadium	Sub	45	0
4-16-2003	Korea	1-0	Seoul, Korea	Start	90	0
5-31-2003	Korea	0-1	Nat'l Stadium	Start	90	0
6-8-2003	Argentina	1-4	Nagai Stadium	Start	45	0
6-11-2003	Paraguay	0-0	Saitama Stadium	Sub	45	0
6-18-2003	New Zealand	3-0	St.Denis,France	U.R.	--	--
6-20-2003	France	1-2	St.Etienne,France	Sub	17	0
6-22-2003	Colombia	0-1	St.Etienne,France	Start	90	0
8-20-2003	Nigeria	3-0	Nat'l Stadium	U.R.	--	--
7-25-2004	Thailand	4-1	Chongqing, China	Sub	2	0
8-04-2004	Bahrain	4-3 (OT)	Chengdu, China	Sub	46	1
8-07-2004	China	3-1	Beijing, China	Start	90	1
8-18-2004	Argentina	1-2	Shizuoka Stadium, Japan	Start	90	0
11-17-2004	Singapore	1-0	Saitama Stadium, Japan	Start	90	0
2-2-2005	Syria	3-0	Saitama Stadium	Sub	18	0
6-4-2005	Bahrain	1-0	Manama, Bahrain	Sub	14	0
6-8-2005	North Korea	2-0	Bangkok Thailand	Start	90	0
6-15-2005	Mexico	1-2	Hannover, Germany	U.R.	--	0
6-19-2005	Greece	1-0	Frankfurt, Germany	Sub	1	0
6-22-2005	Brazil	2-2	Koln, Germany	Sub	45	0
9-07-2005	Honduras	5-4	Miyagi Stadium	Start	90	0
10-08-2005	Latvia	2-2	Riga, Latvia	Start	90	0
10-12-2005	Ukraine	0-1	Ukraine	Start	90	0
6-6-2006	Malta	1-0	Frankenstadion, Germany	Sub	31	0
6-22-2006	Brazil	1-4	Dortmund, Germany	Sub	34	0
6-05-2007	Colombia	0-0	Saitama Stadium	Start	45	0