Homare Sawa

**Homare Sawa** (澤 穂希, *Sawa Homare*; born 6 September 1978) be a Japanese former professional footballer wey play as a forward anaa a midfielder. Chaw regard am as one of de greatest female footballers of all time, na Sawa get a professional club career wey dey span 24 seasons, mostly plus Nippon TV Beleza den INAC Kobe Leonessa. She sanso spend 22 years plus de Japan national team, most notably captaining dem to a FIFA Women's World Cup win insyd 2011 den an Olympic silver medal finish insyd 2012.

Sawa make ein club debut insyd 1991 at de age of 12, wey she go on to win five titles plus Nippon TV Beleza between 1991 den 1999 before she depart to de United States to play football insyd de Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). Na she play give two WUSA clubs, de Atlanta Beat den de Denver Diamonds, before she return to de Japanese league insyd 2004. Sawa win anoda nine titles plus Nippon TV Beleza insyd four years, buh na she san lef de club insyd 2008. Dat year, na Japan reach dema first Olympic medal match at de Summer Olympics, wey na Sawa be Japan ein top scorer of de tournament.

Insyd 2011, na Sawa captain de Japan national team at de 2011 World Cup. Insyd Germany, Japan advance to dema first final of a major international tournament, wer na Sawa score Japan ein match-tying goal in extra time, wey allow Japan to win de match on penalties. She fini de tournament plus de Golden Ball as de tournament ein best player den de Golden Boot as de tournament ein top scorer. Later insyd de year, na dem name Sawa de 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of de Year, de first Asian person regardless of gender to receive a major year-end individual award. She later captain Japan to a silver medal finish at de 2012 Summer Olympics wey na she then retire from international football for de first time immediately after de completion of de tournament.

Sawa return to ein role insyd de Japan national team to play insyd de 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, ein sixth World Cup den de final major international tournament of ein career. Japan reach dema second-ever Women's World Cup final dat year, den after a runner-up finish, she retire from international football for de second den final time. At de end of de year, after she win de 2015 Empress's Cup plus INAC Kobe Leonessa, she retire from football completely. She retire from club football plus 11 league titles den 8 domestic cup titles insyd de Japanese League, wey na dem sanso name am to de league ein Best XI for 11 seasons.

Sawa remain de leader insyd both caps den goals give Japan, plus 205 den 83 respectively.

## Early life

Na dem born Sawa insyd Fuchū, Tokyo on 6 September 1978. She begin dey play football at de age of six. While na she dey watch ein older bro train, na ein coach invite am make she join de boys dema team on de pitch.

## Club career

### NTV Beleza
Insyd 1991, dem long consider am Japan ein finest female footballer, na dem promote Sawa to Yomiuri Beleza (later *NTV Beleza*) from youth team by manager Kazuhiko Takemoto. Na she make ein debut insyd L.League, Japan ein highest domestic league, at de young age of 12. She play as forward wey na she play 136 matches wey she score 79 goals insyd League. Na dem sanso select am Best Eleven 5 times (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 den 1998).

Insyd 1999, na NTV Beleza cancel Sawa ein contract, wey force am make she move abroad to de United States.

### Atlanta Beat
Plus de birth of de Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) insyd 2001, na Sawa find einself she dey play insyd de highest-level professional women's league insyd de United States, for de Atlanta Beat. Plus Asian compatriot Sun Wen insyd de team, she score de first goal insyd de club ein history, wey na she be a centerpiece of de Beat ein three seasons insyd de league, helping dem into de playoffs each year. Despite ein diminutive stature at  tall den , she hold ein own plus de mostly larger den more physical players, wey na she regularly dey among de team den league leaders in fouls taken.

### Nippon TV Beleza
Dey follow de WUSA ein demise insyd 2003, Sawa return to Japan, wer na she play plus powerhouse Nippon TV Beleza. Insyd 2004, na dem name am Women's Player of de Year for de Asian Football Confederation. She play de club til 2008. De club win L.League championship for four years in a row (2005–2008). Na dem sanso select am L.League MVP awards insyd 2006 den 2008.

### Washington Freedom
On 24 September 2008, na dem select Sawa by de Washington Freedom insyd de first round of de 2008 WPS International Draft. Na she be a fixture insyd de Freedom midfield thru de league ein first two seasons insyd 2009 den 2010.

### Nippon TV Beleza den INAC Kobe Leonessa
Sawa return to Japan temporarily at de end of de 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, wey na she join Nippon TV Beleza on loan. At de end of 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season, she return to Nippon TV Beleza.

Insyd January 2011, Sawa move to INAC Kobe Leonessa secof financial strain at Nippon TV Beleza, plus international players; Shinobu Ohno, Yukari Kinga, den Chiaki Minamiyama. De club win de L.League championship three years in a row (2011–2013).

## Career statistics

### Club

### International

: *Scores den results dey list Japan ein goal tally first, score column dey indicate score after each Sawa goal.*

### Matches den goals she score at World Cup den Olympic tournaments

## 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: 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

## References


## External links

* Homare Sawa – FIFA competition record (archived)
* Homare Sawa at Soccerway 
* Homare Sawa at WorldFootball.net 
* Homare Sawa at Olympedia
* 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)