Naohiro Takahara

is a Japanese people footballer. Born in Mishima, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, he is a striker and currently plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Germany Fußball-Bundesliga. He has previously played for Júbilo Iwata in Japan, Club Atlético Boca Juniors in Argentina and Hamburger SV in Germany. He played for Japan in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney but missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by his Japan and South Korea, because of injury. On December 3 2006, he scored his first hat-trick in the German Bundesliga in a league game against Alemannia Aachen.

Takahara appears to have found his old form from his Júbilo days at Eintracht. In the 2006-07 season, he was a joint top 13 scorer in the Bundesliga with 11 goals. He has scored 17 goals in all competitions with Frankfurt, a notable achievement for any east Asian football player.

He was a member of the Japan team for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup and played in all the six games involving Japan. He scored 4 goals and was a joint top scorer of the tournament.

Takahara is the third Japanese to play in Fußball-Bundesliga after Yasuhiko Okudera and Kazuo Ozaki.

Facts

- His goals and performances are celebrated by Eintracht supporters by singing to the melody of Gala's Freed from desire. After successful matches Takahara often joins the faithful to jump up and down the same way.
- Takahara was the first Japanese to play in the Primera División Argentina league.

National team

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Honors and awards

Individual Honors

- AFC Asian Cup Best Eleven: Asian Cup 2000
- List of J-League Player of the Year: 2002
- List of J-League Top Scorers: 2002
- J-League Best Eleven: 2002
- AFC Asian Cup Top Scorers: Asian Cup 2007

Team Honors

- FIFA World Youth Championship runner-up: 1999_FIFA_World_Youth_Championship
- AFC Asian Cup Champions: 2000 AFC Asian Cup
- AFC Champions League Champions: Asian Club Championship 1999
- Asian Super Cup Champions: 1999
- J-League Champions: 1999, 2002
- DFB-Ligapokal Champions: 2003

Club Career Stats

Last update: 07 May 2007

International Goals