Former Japan national team captain Makoto Hasebe said on Friday he wants to become the first Japanese manager in a top European league after he retires at age 40.
Hasebe came on as a substitute in Eintracht Frankfurt’s final game of the season last weekend, ending his playing career after 17 seasons in the German Bundesliga.
It was his 384th game in the German first division, putting him level with Poland’s Robert Lewandowski and behind Peru’s Claudio Pizarro on the list of most Bundesliga appearances among foreign players.
Hasebe, a defender who captained Japan at three World Cups and won 114 caps, will remain at Frankfurt and work as a coach at youth level.
He told reporters in Tokyo that he plans to gain coaching qualifications before taking on a more senior role at the club.
“My main job is to coach the under-21 second team and monitor players across all categories,” he said.
“My ultimate goal is to coach the (Frankfurt) first team.”
To date, no Japanese manager has led a team in Europe’s top leagues.
Hasebe is the oldest player in the Bundesliga this season, more than four years older than Bremen coach Ole Werner.
“I’m not really interested in age,” the player said, revealing that Bundesliga coaches had invited him to their clubs to observe how they do things.
“I want to start my career as a coach, so first I want to gain experience,” said Hasebe, naming Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso as a coach he respects.
“I don’t know if I’ll stay in Japan or Germany in the future, but I want to become someone who can coach at a high level.”
Hasebe won Japan’s J-League and Asian Champions League with Urawa Reds before moving to Wolfsburg in 2008 and winning the Bundesliga in his first season in Germany.
After a brief stint with Nuremberg, he joined Frankfurt in 2014, where he won both the German Cup and the Europa League.
Hasebe won the Asian Cup with Japan in 2011.
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