*anese *ociation football player"Homare" redirects here. For the World War II aircraft engine, see Nakajima Homare.

*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Homare Sawa (澤 穂希, Sawa Homare, born 6 September 1978) is a former *anese professional football player 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. She also spent 22 years with the *an women's national football 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 later went on to win 5 *les with Nippon TV Beleza between 1991 and 1999 before departing to the United States to play football in the Women's United Soccer *ociation (WUSA). She played for two WUSA clubs- the Atlanta Beat and the Denver Diamonds- before returning to the *anese league in 2004. Sawa won another 9 *les with Nippon TV Beleza in 4 years, but departed the club again in 2008. That year, *an reached their first Olympic medal match at the Summer Olympics, and Sawa was *an's top scorer of the tournament.

In 2011, Sawa captained the *an national team at the 2011 World Cup. In Germany, *an advanced to their first final of a major international tournament, where Sawa scored *an’s match-tying goal in extra time, allowing *an 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 *an to a silver medal finish at the 2012 Summer Olympics and then retired from international football for the first time immediately after completion of the tournament.

Sawa returned to her role in the *an 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. *an 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, she retired from football completely. She retired from club football with 11 league *les and 8 domestic cup *les in the *anese League, and was also named to the league's Best XI for 11 seasons.

Sawa remains the leader in both caps and goals for *an, with 205 and 83 respectively.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Club career
  • 2.1 NTV Beleza
  • 2.2 Atlanta Beat
  • 2.3 Nippon TV Beleza
  • 2.4 Washington Freedom
  • 2.5 Nippon TV Beleza and INAC Kobe Leonessa
• 3 National team career
• 4 Career statistics
  • 4.1 Club career
  • 4.2 National team
  • 4.3 International goals
  • 4.4 Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments
• 5 Honors
  • 5.1 Club
  • 5.2 International
  • 5.3 Individual
• 6 Personal life
• 7 See also
• 8 Notes
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Early life

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.

Club career

NTV Beleza

In 1991, long considered *an'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, *an'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.

Atlanta Beat

With the birth of the Women's United Soccer *ociation (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 *an, where she played with powerhouse Nippon TV Beleza. In 2004, she was named Women's Player of the Year for the Asian Football Confederation. She played the club until 2008. The club won L.League championship for 4 years in a row (2005-2008). She also was selected L.League MVP awards in 2006 and 2008.

Washington Freedom

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.

Nippon TV Beleza and INAC Kobe Leonessa

Sawa returned to *an 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.

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 3 years in a row (2011–2013). On December 16, 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 final. In the final against Albirex Niigata on December 27, she scored the lone goal of the match in the 78th minute to secure the championship for her side.

National team career

Sawa captaining *an in the 2011 World Cup

On 6 December 1993, at age 15, Sawa made her *anese international debut, scoring four goals in her first ever match, a win against the Philippines. 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 in 2003 Women’s World Cup qualification play-offs to secure *an’s participation in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Sawa played in all of *an’s matches at the 2004 Olympics, leading them to the knockout round of a major international tournament for the first time in *an’s history.

Sawa scored a hat trick in a 2011 World Cup group stage match against Mexico, becoming the then-oldest player in World Cup history to score a hat trick. Sawa led the *anese 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, Germany (with one goal by Sawa in the 117th minute), *an won the penalty shootout 3–1, defeating the United States 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 took over captaincy of *an from Sawa.

Yuki Ogimi (17) scores for *an against the United States off a p* from Homare Sawa (10) as Kelley O'Hara (5) defends and Hope Solo (1) attempts to save.

At the 2012 London Olympics, *an met the United States in the gold medal match where they were defeated 1-2. She announced her immediate retirement from international football in August 2012. In October of 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 compe*ion in 2014 at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup, which served as qualifiers to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Sawa scored *an’s opening goal in the semifinal against China, helping *an win 2-1 to send them to the final. *an went on to win the final 1-0 against Australia, claiming their first ever Asian Cup *le.

Sawa was absent for many months after *an’s Asian Cup win, coinciding with multiple injuries. In November of 2014, Sawa was a member of the first round of inductees into the Asian Football Hall of Fame. In March of 2015, Norio Sasaki left Sawa out of *an’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 *an’s World Cup roster, as the Algarve Cup was typically used as warm-up matches for major international compe*ions.

To some surprise, Sawa was called into *an’s 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup squad after not featuring for *an for the second half of 2014 or the early months of 2015. She did not regain her captaincy, however, which was still held by Aya Miyama. She returned to the national team from injury after a one-year absence, marking the occasion by scoring *an’s match-winning goal in a friendly against New Zealand. On 8 June, she started *an’s first match of the 2015 Women's World Cup, achieving her 200th cap with 57 minutes against Switzerland. Sawa and Brazil's Formiga became the first footballers to appear for a record sixth World Cup. Sawa had an off-the-bench role for the remainder of the tournament, starting just twice in 7 games. *an went on to advance to the final against the United States, where Sawa was subbed into the match in the 33rd minute after *an had already conceded four goals. *an went on to lose 5–2 to the U.S. in the final 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 *anese football, including coach Norio Sasaki, teammates Yuki Nagasato, Eriko Arakawa, and Azusa Iwashimizu, and male footballing compatriot Shunsuke Nakamura.

Career statistics

Club career

As of 11 November 2012

National team

International goals

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 *an in four Olympics: Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. In all, she played 41 matches and scored 11 goals at those ten global tournaments. Sawa was a member of the *anese 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

Club

Yomiuri/Nippon TV Beleza

• Nadeshiko.League (8): 1991, 1992, 1993, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
• Empress's Cup All-*an 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-*an Women's Football Tournament: 2011
• International Women's Club Championship (1): 2013
• Nadeshiko League Cup: 2013

International

*an

• East Asian Football Championship: 2008, 2010
• Asian Games Gold Medal: 2010
• FIFA Women's World Cup: 2011
• 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: 2011
• FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Shoe: 2011
• FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team: 2011
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 2011
• 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 in 1999 until her club team- Nippon TV Beleza- ended her club contract, forcing her to drop out to go play club football in the United States.

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 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 amb*ador for *an’s bid for the 2020 Olympics, which was later chosen to be hosted in Tokyo. In 2021, she pulled out of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay due to a chronic inner-ear condition.

See also

• List of FIFA Women's World Cup winning players
• List of women's footballers with 100 or more caps
• List of players who have appeared in multiple FIFA Women's World Cups

Notes

References

Match reports

External links

• Homare Sawa – FIFA compe*ion record (archived)
• Homare Sawa at Soccerway
• Homare Sawa on Instagram
• Homare Sawa at WorldFootball.net
• Homare Sawa at Olympedia
• Homare Sawa at the International Olympic Committee
• Homare Sawa at Olympics.com
• JFA players' Information
• FIFA 2007 Women's World Cup bio page at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 August 2007)
• 2012 London Olympics player profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 2 May 2013)
• WPS Press Release at the Wayback Machine (archived 3 March 2009)