is a Japanese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

or a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Regarded by many as one of the greatest female footballers of all time and the greatest Asian female footballer of all time, Sawa had a professional club career spanning 24 seasons, mostly with

Nippon TV Beleza is a women's football team which plays in Japan's WE League. History The club was founded as named ''Yomiuri SC Ladies Beleza'' as women's club of Yomiuri SC (currently ''Tokyo Verdy'') by Yomiuri Shimbun in 1981.INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe is a Japanese football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian. In 2006 INAC Leonessa was promoted to the Nadeshiko.League, where it has played since 2020 ...

. She also spent 22 years with the Japan national team, most notably captaining them to a FIFA Women's World Cup win in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and an Olympic silver medal finish in 2012. Sawa made her club debut in 1991 at the age of 12, and later went on to win five titles with

Nippon TV Beleza is a women's football team which plays in Japan's WE League. History The club was founded as named ''Yomiuri SC Ladies Beleza'' as women's club of Yomiuri SC (currently ''Tokyo Verdy'') by Yomiuri Shimbun in 1981.Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

(WUSA). She played for two WUSA clubs- the Atlanta Beat and the

Denver Diamonds Denver Diamonds was an American women's soccer team, founded in 1996. In its debut season the team won its USL W-League conference, then finished second four years in succession, before folding after the 2000 season. The team was later a member o ...

- before returning to the Japanese league in 2004. Sawa won another nine titles with Nippon TV Beleza in four years, but departed the club again in 2008. That year, Japan reached their first Olympic medal match at the Summer Olympics, and Sawa was Japan's top scorer of the tournament. In 2011, Sawa captained the Japan national team at the 2011 World Cup. In Germany, Japan advanced to their first

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of a major international tournament, where Sawa scored Japan’s match-tying goal in extra time, allowing Japan to win the match on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. She finished the tournament with the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer. Later in the year, Sawa was named the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, the first Asian person regardless of gender to receive a major year-end individual award. She later captained Japan to a silver medal finish at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and then retired from international football for the first time immediately after completion of the tournament. Sawa returned to her role in the Japan national team to play in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, her sixth World Cup and the final major international tournament of her career. Japan reached their second-ever Women’s World Cup final that year, and after a runner-up finish, she retired from international football for the twice and final time. At the end of the year, after winning the 2015 Empress's Cup with

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe is a Japanese football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian. In 2006 INAC Leonessa was promoted to the Nadeshiko.League, where it has played since 2020 ...

, she retired from football completely. She retired from club football with 11 league titles and 8 domestic cup titles in the Japanese League, and was also named to the league's Best XI for 11 seasons. Sawa remains the leader in both

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and goals for Japan, with 205 and 83 respectively.

Early life

Sawa was born in

Fuchū, Tokyo 260px, Fuchū City Hall is a city located in western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Fuchū serves as a regional commercial center and a commuter town for workers in central Tokyo. The city hosts large scale manufacturing facilities for Toshiba, NEC ...

on 6 September 1978. She began playing football at the age of six. While watching her older brother train, she was invited by his coach to join the boys' team on the pitch.

Club career

NTV Beleza

In 1991, long considered Japan's finest female footballer, Sawa was promoted to Yomiuri Beleza (later ''NTV Beleza'') from youth team by manager

Kazuhiko Takemoto is a former Japanese football player and manager. His wife is former footballer Asako Takakura. He is the current manager of WE League club of Tokyo Verdy Beleza. Coaching career Takemoto was born in Aichi Prefecture on November 22, 1955. He s ...

. She made her debut in

L.League The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football league in Japan. The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese women's football pyramid respective ...

, Japan's highest domestic league, at the young age of 12. She played as

and played 136 matches and scored 79 goals in League. She was also selected Best Eleven 5 times ( 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998). In 1999, NTV Beleza cancelled Sawa’s contract, forcing her to move abroad to the United States.

Atlanta Beat

With the birth of the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

(WUSA) in 2001, Sawa 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 the club's 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" (165 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.

Nippon TV Beleza

Following the WUSA's demise in 2003, Sawa returned to Japan, where she played with powerhouse

Nippon TV Beleza is a women's football team which plays in Japan's WE League. History The club was founded as named ''Yomiuri SC Ladies Beleza'' as women's club of Yomiuri SC (currently ''Tokyo Verdy'') by Yomiuri Shimbun in 1981.Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

. She played the club until 2008. The club won

championship for four years in a row ( 2005– 2008). She also was selected L.League MVP awards in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 2008.

Washington Freedom

On 24 September 2008, Sawa was selected by the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Uni ...

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 in 2009 and 2010.

Nippon TV Beleza and INAC Kobe Leonessa

Sawa returned to Japan temporarily at the end of the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, and joined

Nippon TV Beleza is a women's football team which plays in Japan's WE League. History The club was founded as named ''Yomiuri SC Ladies Beleza'' as women's club of Yomiuri SC (currently ''Tokyo Verdy'') by Yomiuri Shimbun in 1981.2010 Women's Professional Soccer season The 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season was the second season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. Regular season champion FC Gold Pride won the WPS Championship on September 26 with a 4-0 victor ...

, she returned to Nippon TV Beleza. In January 2011, Sawa moved to

due to financial strain at Nippon TV Beleza, with international players;

Shinobu Ohno is a Japanese footballer who plays as a forward for Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara. She formerly played for the Japan women's national football team. Club career Ohno was born in Zama on 23 January 1984. She played for Nippon TV Beleza fro ...

Yukari Kinga is a Japanese football player. She is currently playing as a defender for Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina in the WE League. She previously played for the Japan women's national football team, winning a World Cup and an Olympic silver medal before ...

, and

Chiaki Minamiyama is a Japanese football player. She played for Japan national team. Club career Minamiyama was born in Ichikawa on October 16, 1985. In 2003, she joined Nippon TV Beleza from youth team and played until 2010. In 2011, she moved to INAC Kobe L ...

. The club won the

championship three years in a row (

–

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

). On 16 December 2015, she announced her intent to retire at the end of the 2015 season. At the 2015 Empress's Cup, Sawa's final tournament as a player, INAC Kobe Leonessa reached the

. In the final against

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the f ...

on 27 December, she scored the lone goal of the match in the 78th minute to secure the championship for her side.

International career

On 6 December 1993, at age 15, Sawa made her Japanese international debut, scoring four goals in her first ever match, a win against the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Sawa debuted in her first Women’s World Cup tournament in 1995, making her first start at 16 years old against Germany. On 12 July 2003, Sawa scored the tie-winning goal against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 2003 Women’s World Cup qualification play-offs to secure Japan’s participation in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. Sawa played in all of Japan’s matches at the 2004 Olympics, leading them to the knockout round of a major international tournament for the first time in Japan’s history. Sawa scored a hat trick in a 2011 World Cup group stage match against

, becoming the then-oldest player in World Cup history to score a hat trick. Sawa led the Japanese national team as captain to a world championship victory at the 2011 World Cup . After a 2–2 tie in front of a sellout crowd in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany (with one goal by Sawa in the 117th minute), Japan won the penalty shootout 3–1, defeating the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to win their first ever World Cup. Sawa was awarded the Golden Boot for being the tournament's leading scorer with five goals and the Golden Ball for being the tournament's MVP. On 9 January 2012, Sawa was awarded the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year in Zurich, Switzerland. She broke Marta’s streak of 5 consecutive FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year awards, and also became the first Asian person regardless of gender to receive a major individual year-end award. In February of that year,

Aya Miyama is a Japanese former footballer who played for the Japan national team starting in 2003, and from 2012 to 2016 served as captain of the team. She appeared in four World Cups between 2003 and 2015, including the team that won the 2011 World C ...

took over captaincy of Japan from Sawa. Ogimi scores vs USA, 2012 Olympic gold medal match

At the 2012 London Olympics, Japan met the United States in the

gold medal match Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

where they were defeated 1-2. She announced her immediate retirement from international football in August 2012. In October 2012, she was shortlisted for the 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, where she finished 4th place in the voting. Sawa returned to international competition in 2014 at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup, which served as qualifiers to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Sawa scored Japan’s opening goal in the semifinal against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, helping Japan win 2-1 to send them to the final. Japan went on to win the final 1–0 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, claiming their first ever Asian Cup title. Sawa was absent for many months after Japan’s Asian Cup win, coinciding with multiple injuries. In November 2014, Sawa was a member of the first round of inductees into the Asian Football Hall of Fame. In March 2015,

Norio Sasaki is a Japanese football coach and former player who is currently the general manager of Omiya Ardija Ventus. He is best known for leading the Japan women's national team to their first and only FIFA Women's World Cup win in 2011 over the Uni ...

left Sawa out of Japan’s squad for the 2015 Algarve Cup despite her being injury-free. Her exclusion from the Algarve Cup squad presented speculation that she would not be named to Japan’s World Cup roster, as the Algarve Cup was typically used as warm-up matches for major international competitions. To some surprise, Sawa was called into Japan’s 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup squad after not featuring for Japan for the second half of 2014 or the early months of 2015. She did not regain her captaincy, however, which was still held by

. She returned to the national team from injury after a one-year absence, marking the occasion by scoring Japan’s match-winning goal in a friendly against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. On 8 June, she started Japan’s first match of the 2015 Women's World Cup, achieving her 200th cap with 57 minutes against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Sawa and Brazil's Formiga became the first footballers to appear for a record sixth World Cup.This record was held until Formiga participated in her seventh World Cup in 2019. Sawa had an off-the-bench role for the remainder of the tournament, starting just twice in seven games. Japan went on to advance to the final against the

, where Sawa was subbed into the match in the 33rd minute after Japan had already conceded four goals. Japan went on to lose 5–2 to the U.S. in the

in what would end up being Sawa’s last ever match with the ''Nadeshiko''. On 16 December 2015, Sawa announced her retirement from football after the completion of the 2015 Nadeshiko League season. Sawa’s retirement was met with tributes from people across Japanese football, including coach

, teammates

Yuki Nagasato Yuki, Yūki or Yuuki may refer to: Places * Yuki, Hiroshima (Jinseki), a town in Jinseki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yuki, Hiroshima (Saeki), a town in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yūki, Ibaraki, a city on Honshu island in Japan * Yuki ...

Eriko Arakawa is a Japanese football player. She plays for Chifure AS Elfen Saitama and formerly played for Japan national team. Club career Arakawa was born in Nerima, Tokyo on 30 October 1979. In 1997, she joined L.League club Yomiuri-Seiyu Beleza (lat ...

, and

Azusa Iwashimizu is a Japanese football player. She played for Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the WE League. She also played for the Japan national team between 2006 and 2016. Club career Iwashimizu was born in Takizawa on 14 October 1986. In 2003, she was promoted ...

, and male footballing compatriot

Shunsuke Nakamura is a Japanese former professional footballer. He is the only person to have been named J.League Most Valuable Player more than once, receiving the award in 2000 and 2013. Steve Perryman once remarked that Nakamura "could open a tin of beans wi ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments

Sawa has competed in six FIFA Women's World Cups ( Sweden 1995, USA 1999, USA 2003, China 2007, Germany 2011, and Canada 2015); she and Brazil's Formiga, who competed at the same Women's World Cups, are the only players of either sex to appear in six World Cup final tournaments. Sawa has also represented Japan in four

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004,

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

and

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In all, she played 41 matches and scored 11 goals at those ten global tournaments. Sawa was a member of the Japanese teams that won the 2011 Women's World Cup, and were runners-up at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2015 Women's World Cup.

Honors

Yomiuri/Nippon TV Beleza * Nadeshiko.League (8): 1991, 1992, 1993, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 * Empress's Cup All-Japan Women's Football Tournament (7): 1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 *Nadeshiko League Cup: 2007 INAC Kobe Leonessa * Nadeshiko.League: 2011, 2012, 2013 * Empress's Cup All-Japan Women's Football Tournament: 2011 * International Women's Club Championship: 2013 *Nadeshiko League Cup: 2013 Japan * East Asian Football Championship: 2008, 2010 *

Asian Games Gold Medal Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

: 2010 * FIFA Women's World Cup:

* Olympic Silver Medal: 2012 * AFC Women's Asian Cup: 2014 Individual * Nadeshiko League Best Eleven (11): 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 * AFC Women's Player of the Year: 2004, 2008 * Nadeshiko League MVP: 2006, 2008 * EAFF Women's Football Championship Best Player: 2008, 2010 * FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Ball:

* FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Shoe:

* FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team:

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representati ...

* Asian Football Hall of Fame: 2014 *IFFHS AFC Best Woman Player of the Decade 2011–2020 * IFFHS AFC Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

Personal life

Sawa attended

Teikyo University is a private university headquartered in the Itabashi ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1931 as Teikyo Commercial High School (帝京商業高等学校). It became Teikyo University in 1966. It is part of Teikyo Group, a multinational ...

in 1999 until her club team-

Nippon TV Beleza is a women's football team which plays in Japan's WE League. History The club was founded as named ''Yomiuri SC Ladies Beleza'' as women's club of Yomiuri SC (currently ''Tokyo Verdy'') by Yomiuri Shimbun in 1981.United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On 11 August 2015, Sawa announced her marriage without naming her husband. The next day, when asked, she said that her husband was former

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in J2 League. The team is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club'', Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after p ...

player Hiroaki Tsujikami. On 10 January 2017, it was announced that she had given birth to a baby girl. In 2013, Sawa was made an ambassador for Japan’s bid for the 2020 Olympics, which was later chosen to be hosted in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. In 2021, she pulled out of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay due to a chronic inner-ear condition.

Notes

References

;Match reports

External links