Naohiro Takahara

Naohiro Takahara (高原 直泰, Takahara Naohiro; born 4 June 1979) 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.

Naohiro Takahara
高原 直泰

Takahara with Shimizu S-Pulse in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Naohiro Takahara[1]
Date of birth	(1979-06-04) 4 June 1979 (age 46)
Place of birth	Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1995–1997	Shimizu Higashi High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2002	Júbilo Iwata	105	(58)
2001	→ Boca Juniors (loan)	6	(1)
2002–2006	Hamburger SV	97	(13)
2006–2008	Eintracht Frankfurt	38	(12)
2008–2010	Urawa Reds	63	(10)
2010	→ Suwon Samsung Bluewings (loan)	12	(4)
2011–2012	Shimizu S-Pulse	46	(9)
2013–2014	Tokyo Verdy	41	(11)
2014–2015	SC Sagamihara	54	(11)
2016–2023	Okinawa SV	62	(30)
Total		464	(129)
International career
1995	Japan U17	3	(1)
1998–1999	Japan U20	16	(16)
1998–2000	Japan U23	11	(4)
2000–2008	Japan	57	(23)
Managerial career
2016–2019	Okinawa SV
2021–2023	Okinawa SV
Medal record Júbilo Iwata Winner J1 League 1999 Winner J1 League 2002 Runner-up J1 League 1998 Runner-up J1 League 2001 Winner J.League Cup 1998 Runner-up J.League Cup 2001 Shimizu S-Pulse Runner-up J.League Cup 2012 Representing  Japan AFC Asian Cup 2000 Lebanon FIFA U-20 World Cup 1999 Nigeria AFC U-19 Championship 1998 Thailand AFC U-16 Championship 1994 Qatar
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 31 December 2023, 13:22 (UTC)

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.^[2]

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.^[3] 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 (around $1.7 million).^[4] 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 (2013–14) and J3 League club SC Sagamihara (2014–15).

In December 2015, along with Japanese judoka Tadahiro Nomura, Takahara founded Okinawa SV.^[5] 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.^[6]

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 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 (venous thrombosis).^[7]

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.^[8]

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

Club

As of 19 March 2023.^[9]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Júbilo Iwata	1998	J.League / J. League Division 1	20	5	2	0	6	4	–		28	9
	1999		21	9	3	1	1	0	–		25	10
	2000		24	10	0	0	2	0	–		26	10
	2001		13	8	0	0	2	2	–		15	10
	2002		27	26	3	0	0	0	–		30	26
	Total		105	58	8	1	11	6	–		124	65
Boca Juniors	2001–02	Argentine Primera División	6	1	–		–		1	0	7	1
Hamburger SV	2002–03	Bundesliga	16	3	–		–		–		16	3
	2003–04		29	2	3	1	3	1	2	0	37	4
	2004–05		31	7	1	0	–		*1	0	33	7
	2005–06		21	1	2	1	–		*10	0	33	2
	Total		97	13	6	2	3	1	13	0	119	16
Eintracht Frankfurt	2006–07	Bundesliga	30	11	4	4	–		5	2	39	17
	2007–08		8	1	2	0	–		–		10	1
	Total		38	12	6	4	–		5	2	49	18
Urawa Reds	2008	J.League Division 1	27	6	1	0	3	1	4	1	35	8
	2009		32	4	0	0	8	2	–		40	6
	2010		4	0	0	0	1	1	–		5	1
	Total		63	10	1	0	12	4	4	1	80	15
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2010	K-League	12	4	1	0	–		1	0	14	4
Shimizu S-Pulse	2011	J.League Division 1	28	8	1	0	4	1	–		25	9
	2012		18	1	0	0	2	0	–		20	1
	Total		46	9	1	0	6	1	–		53	10
Tokyo Verdy	2013	J. League Division 2	41	11	0	0	–		–		41	11
	2014		0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	Total		41	11	0	0	–		–		41	11
SC Sagamihara	2014	J3 League	21	5	0	0	–		–		21	5
	2015		33	6	0	0	–		–		33	6
	Total		54	11	0	0	–		–		54	11
Okinawa SV	2018	Kyushu Soccer League	17	11	–						17	11
	2019		11	7	2	1	–				19	8
	2020		4	5	1	0	–				5	5
	2021		15	5	1	0	–				16	5
	2022		13	2	1	0	–				14	2
	2023	Japan Football League	2	0	0	0	–				2	0
	Total		68	30	5	1	–				73	31
Career total			530	159	28	8	32	12	24	3	614	182

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[8]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2000	11	8
	2001	4	0
	2002	4	1
	2003	8	2
	2004	5	1
	2005	7	2
	2006	5	3
	2007	9	6
	2008	4	0
Total		57	23

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Takahara goal.

List of international goals scored by Naohiro Takahara

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 February 2000	Macau, China	Brunei		9–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2
3	20 February 2000	Macau, China	Macau		3–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4	14 October 2000	Sidon, Lebanon	Saudi Arabia		4–1	2000 AFC Asian Cup
5	17 October 2000	Sidon, Lebanon	Uzbekistan		8–1	2000 AFC Asian Cup
6
7
8	24 October 2000	Beirut, Lebanon	Iraq		4–1	2000 AFC Asian Cup
9	27 March 2002	Łódź, Poland	Poland		2–0	Friendly
10	20 August 2003	Tokyo, Japan	Nigeria		3–0	Friendly
11
12	31 March 2004	Jalan Besar, Singapore	Singapore		2–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	7 September 2005	Rifu, Japan	Honduras		5–4	Friendly
14	8 October 2005	Riga, Latvia	Latvia		2–2	Friendly
15	28 February 2006	Dortmund, Germany	Bosnia and Herzegovina		2–2	Friendly
16	30 May 2006	Leverkusen, Germany	Germany		2–2	Friendly
17
18	24 March 2007	Yokohama, Japan	Peru		2–0	Friendly
19	1 June 2007	Fukuroi, Japan	Montenegro		2–0	Friendly
20	9 July 2007	Hanoi, Vietnam	Qatar		1–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup
21	13 July 2007	Hanoi, Vietnam	United Arab Emirates		3–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup
22
23	21 July 2007	Hanoi, Vietnam	Australia		1–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup

Managerial statistics

As of 19 March 2023.

Managerial record by club and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Okinawa SV	1 February 2016	31 January 2020	44	37	0	7	084.09
	29 July 2021	present	40	30	6	4	075.00
Total			84	67	6	11	079.76

Honours

Júbilo Iwata

• AFC Champions League: 1998–99
• Asian Super Cup: 1999
• J.League Division 1: 1999, 2002
• J.League Cup: 1998
• Japanese Super Cup: 2000

Hamburger SV

• DFB-Ligapokal: 2003
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005^[10]

Okinawa SV (player-manager)

• Kyushu Soccer League: 2019, 2021, 2022
• Japanese Regional Football Champions League : 2022 (Runner-up)

Japan U17

• AFC U-17 Championship: 1994

Japan U20

• FIFA World Youth Championship runner-up: 1999

Japan

• AFC Asian Cup: 2000

Individual

• AFC U-19 Championship top scorer: 1998
• AFC Asian Cup Best Eleven: 2000
• Selected to AFC All Star Team: 2000
• J.League Most Valuable Player: 2002
• J.League Top Scorer: 2002
• J.League Best XI: 2002
• AFC Asian Cup top scorer: 2007