Homare Sawa

Homare Sawa (澤 穂希) 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, Sawa had a professional club career spanning 24 seasons, mostly with Nippon TV Beleza and INAC Kobe Leonessa.

Sawa was born in Fuchū, Tokyo 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.

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).

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.

She made her debut in L.League, Japan's highest domestic league, at the young age of 12.

She played as forward 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.

With the birth of the Women's United Soccer Association (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.

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

She played for two WUSA clubs, the Atlanta Beat and the Denver Diamonds, before returning to the Japanese league in 2004.

In 2004, she was named Women's Player of the Year for the Asian Football Confederation.

The club won L.League championship for four years in a row (2005–2008).

She also was selected L.League MVP awards in 2006 and 2008.

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.

She played the club until 2008.

On 24 September 2008, Sawa 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 in 2009 and 2010.

Sawa returned to Japan temporarily at the end of the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, and joined Nippon TV Beleza on loan.

At the end of 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season, she returned to Nippon TV Beleza.

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.

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.

In January 2011, Sawa moved to INAC Kobe Leonessa due to financial strain at Nippon TV Beleza, with international players; Shinobu Ohno, Yukari Kinga, and Chiaki Minamiyama.

The club won the L.League championship three years in a row (2011–2013).

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.

On 16 December 2015, she announced her intent to retire at the end of the 2015 season.