Homare Sawa is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or a midfielder.
47 Facts About Homare Sawa
2.
Homare Sawa 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.
3.
Homare Sawa made her club debut in 1991 at the age of 12, and later 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.
4.
Homare Sawa played for two WUSA clubs- the Atlanta Beat and the Denver Diamonds- before returning to the Japanese league in 2004.
5.
Homare Sawa won another nine titles with Nippon TV Beleza in four years, but departed the club again in 2008.
6.
That year, Japan reached their first Olympic medal match at the Summer Olympics, and Homare Sawa was Japan's top scorer of the tournament.
7.
In 2011, Homare Sawa captained the Japan national team at the 2011 World Cup.
8.
In Germany, Japan advanced to their first final of a major international tournament, where Homare Sawa scored Japan's match-tying goal in extra time, allowing Japan to win the match on penalties.
9.
Homare Sawa finished the tournament with the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer.
10.
Later in the year, Homare 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.
11.
Homare Sawa 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 completion of the tournament.
12.
Homare 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.
13.
Homare Sawa retired from club football with 11 league titles and 8 domestic cup titles in the Japanese League, and was named to the league's Best XI for 11 seasons.
14.
Homare Sawa remains the leader in both caps and goals for Japan, with 205 and 83 respectively.
15.
Homare Sawa began playing football at the age of six.
16.
In 1991, long considered Japan's finest female footballer, Homare Sawa was promoted to Yomiuri Beleza from youth team by manager Kazuhiko Takemoto.
17.
Homare Sawa played as forward and played 136 matches and scored 79 goals in League.
18.
In 1999, NTV Beleza cancelled Homare Sawa's contract, forcing her to move abroad to the United States.
19.
Homare Sawa 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.
20.
On 24 September 2008, Homare Sawa was selected by the Washington Freedom in the first round of the 2008 WPS International Draft.
21.
Homare Sawa was a fixture in the Freedom midfield through the league's first two seasons in 2009 and 2010.
22.
Homare Sawa returned to Japan temporarily at the end of the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, and joined Nippon TV Beleza on loan.
23.
In January 2011, Homare Sawa moved to INAC Kobe Leonessa due to financial strain at Nippon TV Beleza, with international players; Shinobu Ohno, Yukari Kinga, and Chiaki Minamiyama.
24.
On 6 December 1993, at age 15, Homare Sawa made her Japanese international debut, scoring four goals in her first ever match, a win against the Philippines.
25.
Homare Sawa debuted in her first Women's World Cup tournament in 1995, making her first start at 16 years old against Germany.
26.
On 12 July 2003, Homare Sawa scored the tie-winning goal against Mexico in 2003 Women's World Cup qualification play-offs to secure Japan's participation in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup.
27.
Homare Sawa played in all of Japan's matches at the 2004 Olympics, leading them to the knockout round of a major international tournament for the first time in Japan's history.
28.
Homare 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.
29.
Homare Sawa led the Japanese national team as captain to a world championship victory at the 2011 World Cup.
30.
Homare 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.
31.
On 9 January 2012, Homare Sawa was awarded the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year in Zurich, Switzerland.
32.
Homare Sawa broke Marta's streak of 5 consecutive FIFA Women's World Player of the Year awards, and became the first Asian person regardless of gender to receive a major individual year-end award.
33.
Homare Sawa announced her immediate retirement from international football in August 2012.
34.
Homare Sawa returned to international competition in 2014 at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup, which served as qualifiers to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
35.
Homare Sawa was absent for many months after Japan's Asian Cup win, coinciding with multiple injuries.
36.
In November 2014, Homare Sawa was a member of the first round of inductees into the Asian Football Hall of Fame.
37.
Homare Sawa did not regain her captaincy which was still held by Aya Miyama.
38.
Homare Sawa returned to the national team from injury after a one-year absence, marking the occasion by scoring Japan's match-winning goal in a friendly against New Zealand.
39.
Homare Sawa had an off-the-bench role for the remainder of the tournament, starting just twice in seven games.
40.
Japan went on to advance to the final against the United States, where Homare Sawa was subbed into the match in the 33rd minute after Japan had already conceded four goals.
41.
On 16 December 2015, Homare Sawa announced her retirement from football after the completion of the 2015 Nadeshiko League season.
42.
Homare Sawa's retirement was met with tributes from people across Japanese football, including coach Norio Sasaki, teammates Yuki Nagasato, Eriko Arakawa, and Azusa Iwashimizu, and male footballing compatriot Shunsuke Nakamura.
43.
Homare Sawa has represented Japan in four Olympics: Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
44.
Homare Sawa was a member of the Japanese teams that won the 2011 Women's World Cup, and were runners-up at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2015 Women's World Cup.
45.
Homare 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.
46.
On 11 August 2015, Homare Sawa announced her marriage without naming her husband.
47.
In 2013, Homare Sawa was made an ambassador for Japan's bid for the 2020 Olympics, which was later chosen to be hosted in Tokyo.