Player Profile – Makoto Tanaka

Makoto Tanaka made his J-League debut for Jubilo Iwata in 1994 and has gone on to enjoy a fine career for club and country.

He played for the Japan team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the
Shizuoka-born defender is still a key player in the Jubilo backline and remains a regular in the national team.

He was, however, omnipresent in the Japan team that went all the way in the 2004 Asian Cup and was back to his commanding best at the 2005 Confederations Cup.

Tanaka has twice been named in the end-of-season J-League Best XI. Japan will look to his experience in guiding the team through the difficult terrain of a Europe-based World Cup in 2006.