Known for work rate, balance and defensive midfield reliability; biggest achievements: Japan international, Sanfrecce Hiroshima cornerstone, later national-team managerial success.
One rank above: Alex Santos at #31.
One rank below: Shuichi Gonda at #33.
Japan's editorial top five: Hidetoshi Nakata · Shinji Kagawa · Keisuke Honda · Makoto Hasebe · Shunsuke Nakamura.