Makoto Hasebe

Urawa Reds

After graduating from Fujieda Higashi High School in 2002, he joined Urawa Reds. He became a regular of their first team in the 2003 season. He played mainly as defensive midfielder with Keita Suzuki. In 2004, he was honoured with the J.League Cup New Hero Award and selected as a member of J.League team of the year. He was also the Urawa Fans' Player of the Year that season. Reds won the champions in 2006 J1 League first time in the club history and first Asian title 2007 AFC Champions League.
It was reported in October 2007 that Italian Serie A side A.C. Siena was keen to sign Hasebe the following January.

VfL Wolfsburg

However, he signed for Bundesliga side Wolfsburg becoming the first Japanese player ever to play for the Wolves. In 2009, he became the second Japanese player to win the Bundesliga title.
On 29 April 2010, it was announced that Hasebe extended his contract with Wolfsburg until 2012.
On 17 September 2011, Hasebe played in goal for the final nine minutes of an away match against 1899 Hoffenheim. Wolfsburg lost the match 3–1, with Hasebe conceding Hoffenheim's third goal on 85 minutes. On 3 December 2011, he played his 100th Bundesliga match against 1. FSV Mainz 05.

1. FC Nürnberg

On 2 September 2013, Hasebe signed a three-year contract with 1. FC Nürnberg.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 1 July 2014, Hasebe signed a two-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.

International career

Hasebe made his senior national team debut under manager Zico on 11 February 2006, in a friendly match against the USA at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Although he played 3 matches under Zico, he was not select Japan for 2006 World Cup.
After 2006 World Cup, Hasebe was selected Japan under new manager Ivica Osim soon. Although he played 3 matches under Osim in 2006, he could not play at all in the match in 2007. Manager Osim suffered a stroke in November 2007 and Takeshi Okada became a new manager in December. In May 2008, he played for Japan against Ivory Coast for the first time in a year and a half. After that, he became a regular player and played many matches as defensive midfielder with Yasuhito Endo for long time.
Hasebe was the onfield captain in the 2010 World Cup, as Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi was the reserve third string goalkeeper. He captained the team for three World Cup campaigns, until he announced his international retirement after Japan lost 3–2 against Belgium in the Round of 16 of 2018 World Cup. At 2010 World Cup, Hasebe played all 4 matches and Japan qualified to the knockout stage.
After 2010 World Cup, Hasebe also served as a captain under new manager Alberto Zaccheroni. In 2011, Japan won the champions in 2011 Asian Cup. He played all 6 matches and scored a goal against Syria. From late 2013, Hasebe played as defensive midfielder with Hotaru Yamaguchi instead Endo. In 2014, he played 3 matches in 2014 World Cup. However Japan was eliminated in the group stage.
In 2015, Hasebe played in 2015 Asian Cup. Although he played full time in all 4 matches, Japan was eliminated in quarterfinals. He could hardly play in the match for injuries in 2017. In 2018, he was selected Japan for 2018 World Cup. He played all 4 matches as defensive midfielder with Gaku Shibasaki and Japan qualified to the knockout stage. After World Cup, he retired from Japan national team. He played 114 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 2018.