Questioned cynically by The Team on his missed pass against ASSE in 2005, Koji Nakata confided that he had not forgotten it. The former Japanese defender recalled this brief moment: “I make a good first check with a retro effect (from the flat of my foot) to stop the ball coming at me. In Kashima, it was the Brazilian school. Controlling your head up, seeing one step ahead, that was the basis of our football. So I'm already trying to project myself into the next move and I'm sure that the ball is warm under my center of gravity. I never told myself that I had missed my gesture”he told the daily.
Although it caused a buzz on social networks, the gesture did not disturb the player: “Frankly, no more than that, I was in the moment, the match was incredibly demanding, I didn't have time to think about it. » Nakata nonetheless has good memories of his time in Marseille: “It was a complicated season. But, at the Vélodrome, I had good matches, technically I was never on the street. Except for this gesture. (…) In Marseille, the fans were magical, the atmosphere at the Vélodrome unforgettable, I didn't live far from the city center, I walked around the Old Port, I went into cafes to eat alone . Everything was not so dark during this year on the Mediterranean. »
The former player thinks he learned a lot in Marseille: “The very high level, the pressure, the demands of the supporters and the media, I learned a lot in a short time. Without OM, I would not have succeeded in Basel (83 matches between 2006 and 2008, 2008 Swiss champion) or been to the 2006 World Cup.”
Between January 2005 and February 2006, Koji Nakata played 15 matches with OM. He then joined FC Basel.
