Homare Sawa

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Homare Sawa
Sawa captaining Japan in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
Personal information
Full name Homare Sawa
Height 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 INAC Kobe Leonessa
Number 8
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991-1998 Yomiuri Beleza 136 (79)
1999 Denver Diamonds
2001-2003 Atlanta Beat 55 (13)
2004-2009 NTV Beleza 85 (47)
2009-2010 Washington Freedom 41 (6)
2010 NTV Beleza
2011- INAC Kobe Leonessa 16 (4)
International career‡
1993- Japan 176 (80)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 20, 2011
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of September 11, 2011

Homare Sawa (澤 穂希, Sawa Homare, born September 6, 1978 in Fuchū, Tokyo) is a Japanese football player. She currently plays for INAC Kobe Leonessa in the Nadeshiko League Division 1.

Career

Long considered Japan's finest female footballer, she made her debut in L. League, Japan's highest domestic league, at age 12. On December 6, 1993, at age 15, she made her Japanese international debut, scoring four goals in her first ever match, a win against the Philippines. She has subsequently remained a fixture for the Japanese national team, participating in the last five FIFA Women's World Cups and the 1996, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympic Games on her way to a Japanese record 173 caps, and a Japanese female-best 80 international goals, including a hat trick in a 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup group stage match against Mexico. Sawa led the Japanese national team as captain to a World Championship victory and received the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards as the top scorer (5 goals during the 2011 World Cup) and MVP in the tournament. After a 2-2 tie in front of a sellout crowd in Frankfurt, Germany, (with 1 goal by Sawa in the 117th minute), Japan won the penalty shootout 3-1, defeating the United States to win their first ever World Cup.

With the birth of the Women's United Soccer Association in 2001, she found herself playing in the highest-level professional women's league in the United States, for the Atlanta Beat. She scored the first goal in club history, and was a centerpiece of the Beat's three seasons in the league, helping them into the playoffs each year. Despite her diminutive stature at 5'5" (164 cm) tall and 121 lbs. (55 kg), she held her own with the mostly larger and more physical players, and was regularly among the team and league leaders in fouls taken.

Following the WUSA's demise in 2003, she returned to Japan, where she played with powerhouse NTV Beleza. In 2004 she was named Women's Player of the Year for the Asian Football Confederation.

On September 24, 2008, Homare was selected by the Washington Freedom in the first round of the 2008 WPS International Draft. She was a fixture in the Freedom midfield through the league's first two seasons before returning to Japan during preparations for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

On July 17, 2011, Homare Sawa led Japan to its first ever FIFA Women's World Cup Title with a 3-1 victory over the United States in a penalty shootout. In addition, Sawa was also awarded the Golden Boot for being the tournament's leading scorer and the Golden Ball for being the tournament's MVP.

On January 9th 2012, Homare was awarded the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year in 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or in Zurich, Switzerland.[1]

Career statistics

Club career

Team Season League Domestic
League 		Domestic
Playoffs 		Total
Apps Starts Minutes Goals Assists Apps Starts Minutes Goals Assists Apps Starts Minutes Goals Assists
Washington Freedom 2009 WPS 20 20 1800 3 0 1 1 90 0 0 21 21 1890 3 0
Total 20 20 1800 3 0 1 1 90 0 0 21 21 1890 3 0
Career Total - 20 20 1800 3 0 1 1 90 0 0 21 21 1890 3 0

International goals

Honors

Teams

National Team
Champion (1): 2011
Gold Medal (1): 2010
Champions (2): 2008, 2010
Club Team
Champions (9): 1991, 1992, 1993, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
Champions (7): 1993, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
  • L. League Cup
Champion (1): 2007

Individual

Winner: 2011
Golden Ball, Golden Shoe, All Star team
Golden Ball
Best player
Best player
  • AFC Women's Player of the Year
Winners (2): 2004, 2008
MVP (2): 2006, 2008
Best Eleven (9): 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011

References

  1. ^ "Japan's Homare Sawa is FIFA women's player of the year". BBC News. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.

External links

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