is a former

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.

Club career

Nakatani was born in

Uji is a city on the southern outskirts of the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Founded on March 1, 1951, Uji is between the two ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto. The city sits on the Uji River, which has its source in Lake Biwa. ...

on September 22, 1978. After graduating from high school, he joined

Nagoya Grampus Eight (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

in 1997. In 1998, he became a regular player as left side back instead

Seiichi Ogawa is a Japanese football manager and former player. He currently manager of Wyvern FC. Club career Ogawa was born in Chiba on July 21, 1970. After graduating from high school, he joined Toyota Motors (later ''Nagoya Grampus Eight'') in 1989. ...

who got hurt. He moved to

Urawa Reds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

(1999) and

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara W ...

(2000) on loan. However both clubs were relegated to

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

. He returned to Grampus in 2001 and played until 2005. He played many matches as left midfielder and left side-back. He moved to

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadiu ...

. However he could hardly play in the match and he moved to his local club

Kyoto Sanga FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word ''sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist templ ...

in J2 League in September 2007. The club was promoted to J1 League from 2008 and he played many matches. In 2010, he could hardly play in the match and he moved to J2 club

Tokyo Verdy is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of football in the country. Founded as Yomiuri F.C. in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, with ...

in 2011. In 2013, he moved to Thailand and played for Khonkaen. He retired end of 2013 season.

National team career

In August 1995, Nakatani was selected Japan U-17 national team for 1995 U-17 World Championship. He played all 3 matches as substitutes.

Club statistics

References

External links

* * 1978 births Living people Association football people from Kyoto Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Nagoya Grampus players Urawa Red Diamonds players Kawasaki Frontale players Kashiwa Reysol players Kyoto Sanga FC players Tokyo Verdy players Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Men's association football midfielders Asian Games competitors for Japan People from Uji, Kyoto {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub