Naohiro Takahara

Birth Date: June 4 1979
Birth Place: Shizuoka Prefecture
Birth Nation: Japan
Height: 181cm
Weight: 75kg
Nationality: Japanese
Position: Forward

Naohiro Takahara Rumours and Transfers

18 06 2007

Japan coach Ivica Osim axed European-based pair Junichi Inamoto and Koji Nakata when he named his provisional 30 man Asian Cup team on Monday.

The Bosnian put his faith in Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and Frankfurt forward Naohiro Takahara for next month′s tournament.

Inamoto and Nakata were regular fixtures under Japan′s previous 2 coaches, Frenchman Philippe Troussier and Brazilian Zico.

But Osim criticised them for poor performances during the Kirin Cup earlier this month even though the 66 year old denied he has only finished both men′s international careers.

"It doesn′t mean they′re finished", Osim said to reporters. "They simply must work hard to give themselves a chance to play in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers".

Japan will be bidding for a 3rd successive Asian Cup title in this year′s tournament, which takes place from July 7-29 and will be co-hosted by Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Osim′s side face Qatar in Hanoi in their opening Group B match on July 9.

The former Yugoslavia coach will cut his final team to 23 before Japan leave for Vietnam on July 4.

Provisional squad:

Goalkeepers, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Iwata), Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya), Yohei Nishibe (Shimizu), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki)

Defenders, Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama), Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa), Akira Kaji (Gamba Osaka), Tulio (Urawa), Yuichi Komano (Hiroshima), Hiroki Mizumoto (Chiba)

Midfielders, Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Hideo Hashimoto (Gamba Osaka), Naotake Hanyu (Chiba), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki), Keita Suzuki (Urawa), Yuki Abe (Urawa), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Satoru Yamagishi (Chiba), Yoshiaki Ota (Iwata), Masahiko Inoha (FC Tokyo), Koki Mizuno (Chiba), Keisuke Honda (Nagoya), Akihiro Ienaga (Gamba Osaka)

Forwards, Naohiro Takahara (Einmtracht Frankfurt), Ryuji Bando (Gamba Osaka), Seiichiro Maki (Chiba), Ryoichi Maeda (Iwata), Hisato Sato (Hiroshima), Kisho Yano (Niigata)

10 06 2007

Iranian international midfielder Mehdi Mahdavikia has agreed a 3 year deal with Eintracht Frankfurt after spending 8 years with Bundesliga rivals Hamburg.

Eintracht says that Saturday that the 29 year old Iranian captain has agreed to join them on a free transfer from Hamburg. Mahdavikia is the 3rd Asian player to sign up with Eintracht after Naohiro Takahara and Junichi Inamoto of Japan.

Mahdavikia arrived in Germany in 1999 to play for VfL Bochum, however left for Hamburg after Bochum were relegated from the top flight.

Mahdavikia, AFC Player of the Year in 2003, has scored 29 goals in 223 Bundesliga games.