Naohiro Takahara


Naohiro Takahara is a Japanese football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is currently the president of Japan Football League club Okinawa SV.
WWW taka19.com

Club career

Takahara was born in Mishima on 4 June 1979. After graduating from high school, he joined Júbilo Iwata in 1998. In 1998, the club won J.League Cup and he was selected New Hero awards. In 1999, the club won J1 League and Asian Club Championship. The club also reached second place at the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 Asian Club Championships. In August 2001, he moved to Boca Juniors on loan. He became the first Japanese player to play in the Argentine Primera División.
In 2002, he returned to Júbilo Iwata. The club went on to win the 2002 J.League Division 1, while Takahara became the top scorer and was elected Most Valuable Player of the year.
After the 2002 season, Takahara moved to Hamburger SV. He made his Bundesliga debut on in January 2003 in a 2–2 draw against Hannover 96, thereby becoming the third Japanese footballer to play in Bundesliga after Yasuhiko Okudera and Kazuo Ozaki. On 3 December 2006, he scored his first hat-trick in the Bundesliga in a match against Alemannia Aachen.
In January 2008 he moved to Urawa Reds for a transfer fee of around ¥180 million. Due to a disagreement with the style of coach Volker Finke, who had taken over as coach of Urawa in 2009, Takahara was leased to Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the South Korean K League 1 in July of the following year. On 31 July 2010, he made his debut as a substitute for the 39th minute of the match against Gwangju FC. On 29 August, he scored a goal in the 39th minute of the second half of the game against FC Seoul. He helped victorious game 4-2 and won the MVP in this game.
In 2011, he returned to Japan and signed with Shimizu S-Pulse. After that, he played for J2 League club Tokyo Verdy and J3 League club SC Sagamihara.
In December 2015, along with Japanese judoka Tadahiro Nomura, Takahara founded Okinawa SV. He served not only as club's president, but also played and captained the club. On 27 November 2022, he brought his club a first-time promotion for the Japan Football League, after a 4–0 over FC Kariya led them to finish as runners-up at the 2022 Regional Champions League. He featured in the match as a late substitution. On 31 August 2023, Takahara announced his retirement at the end of this season.

International career

In August 1995, Takahara was selected by the Japan U17 national team for 1995 U-17 World Championship. He played all three matches and scored one goal. In April 1999, he was also selected Japan U-20 national team for 1999 World Youth Championship. He played all seven matches and scored three goals. Japan achieved second place. In February 2000, he was selected by the Japan national team for 2000 Asian Cup qualification. At this qualification, on 13 February, he debuted against Singapore. He played all three matches and three goals and Japan won the qualify for 2000 Asian Cup.
In September, he was selected Japan U23 national team for [Football at the 2000 AFC Asian Cup|2000 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|2000 Summer Olympics]. He played all four matches and scored three goals in first match and quarterfinal. In October, he played at 2000 Asian Cup. He played five matches and scored five goals. Japan won the champions. However he missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by his home country and South Korea, because of lung disease.
After 2002 World Cup, Takahara played at 2003 Confederations Cup. Although his convocation for Japan decreased due to the schedule, he played as regular player when he was elected Japan. In 2006, he was elected Japan for 2006 World Cup and he played all three matches. After 2006 World Cup, he played at 2007 Asian Cup. He played six matches and scored four goals, and became a top scorer. He played 57 games and scored 23 goals for Japan until 2008.

2007 Asian Cup

Takahara finished top scorer after an impressive performance at the 2007 Asian Cup. He scored against Qatar in the first match, who Japan tied 1–1. Japan won the next match, against United Arab Emirates and Takahara impressed coach Ivica Osim with two goals. In the quarterfinal match against rivals Australia, Takahara scored the tying goal and sent the game to penalty kicks. Although Takahara missed his spot-kick, saves from goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi sent Japan through into the semifinals, where they lost to Saudi Arabia 3–2.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
116 February 2000Macau, China9–02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
216 February 2000Macau, China9–02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
320 February 2000Macau, China3–02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
414 October 2000Sidon, Lebanon4–12000 AFC Asian Cup
517 October 2000Sidon, Lebanon8–12000 AFC Asian Cup
617 October 2000Sidon, Lebanon8–12000 AFC Asian Cup
717 October 2000Sidon, Lebanon8–12000 AFC Asian Cup
824 October 2000Beirut, Lebanon4–12000 AFC Asian Cup
927 March 2002Łódź, Poland2–0Friendly
1020 August 2003Tokyo, Japan3–0Friendly
1120 August 2003Tokyo, Japan3–0Friendly
1231 March 2004Jalan Besar, Singapore2–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
137 September 2005Rifu, Japan5–4Friendly
148 October 2005Riga, Latvia2–2Friendly
1528 February 2006Dortmund, Germany2–2Friendly
1630 May 2006Leverkusen, Germany2–2Friendly
1730 May 2006Leverkusen, Germany2–2Friendly
1824 March 2007Yokohama, Japan2–0Friendly
191 June 2007Fukuroi, Japan2–0Friendly
209 July 2007Hanoi, Vietnam1–12007 AFC Asian Cup
2113 July 2007Hanoi, Vietnam3–12007 AFC Asian Cup
2213 July 2007Hanoi, Vietnam3–12007 AFC Asian Cup
2321 July 2007Hanoi, Vietnam1–12007 AFC Asian Cup

Honours

Júbilo Iwata
Hamburger SV
Okinawa SV
Japan U17
Japan U20
Japan
Individual