Homare Sawa

Homare Sawa

Sawa at the 2015 World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Homare Sawa[1]
Date of birth	(1978-09-06) 6 September 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1999	NTV Beleza	136	(79)
1999–2000	Denver Diamonds
2001–2003	Atlanta Beat	55	(13)
2004–2008	Nippon TV Beleza	85	(47)
2009–2010	Washington Freedom	41	(6)
2009	→ Nippon TV Beleza (loan)	4	(2)
2010	Nippon TV Beleza	0	(0)
2011–2015	INAC Kobe Leonessa	94	(12)
Total		415	(159)
International career
1993–2015	Japan	205	(83)
Medal record Women's football Representing  Japan Olympic Games 2012 London Team FIFA Women's World Cup Winner 2011 Germany Runner-up 2015 Canada AFC Women's Asian Cup Winner 2014 Vietnam Runner-up 1995 Malaysia Runner-up 2001 Chinese Taipei 1993 Malaysia 1997 China 2008 Vietnam 2010 China Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou Team 1994 Hiroshima Team 2006 Doha Team 1998 Bangkok Team 2002 Busan Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Homare Sawa (澤 穂希, Sawa Homare, born 6 September 1978) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or a midfielder. Regarded by many as one of the greatest female footballers of all time and the greatest Asian female footballer of all time,^[3][4][5] Sawa had a professional club career spanning 24 seasons, mostly with Nippon TV Beleza and INAC Kobe Leonessa. She also spent 22 years with the Japan national team, most notably captaining them to a FIFA Women's World Cup win in 2011 and an Olympic silver medal finish in 2012.

Sawa made her club debut in 1991 at the age of 12, and went on to win five titles with Nippon TV Beleza between 1991 and 1999 before departing to the United States to play football in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). She played for two WUSA clubs, the Atlanta Beat and the Denver Diamonds, before returning to the Japanese league in 2004. Sawa won another nine titles with Nippon TV Beleza in four years, but left 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 of a major international tournament, where Sawa scored Japan's match-tying goal in extra time, allowing Japan to win the match on penalties. 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 and then retired from international football for the first time immediately after the 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 second and final time. At the end of the year, after winning the 2015 Empress's Cup with INAC Kobe Leonessa, 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 and goals for Japan, with 205 and 83 respectively.