Will set a league record against FSV Mainz 05 in the Rhein-Main derby: Makoto Hasebe from Eintracht Frankfurt. Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa (Image: dpa)
(Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa)
Frankfurt / Main – Makoto Hasebe has experienced a lot in his long football career. With VfL Wolfsburg, the 36-year-old became German champion, with 1. FC Nuremberg he relegated, and with Eintracht Frankfurt he won the DFB Cup.
There are also 114 caps for Japan, including four World Cup appearances and winning the Asian Cup 2011. In the Rhein-Main derby against FSV Mainz 05 on June 6 (3:30 p.m.), the Frankfurt defense chief is now setting a very special record. With 309 appearances, Hasebe replaces South Korean Bum-Kun Cha (308), who once stormed 98 for Eintracht, Bayer Leverkusen and Darmstadt, as Asia’s record player in the Bundesliga.
«Makoto has had an exceptional career. He owes the fact that he is still an important pillar of our team at 36 years of age due to his great discipline and his highly professional attitude », said Frankfurt sporting director Fredi Bobic recently when the contract was extended until 2021.
With his calmness and overview in the center of defense, Hasebe recently played a large part in the upswing of Eintracht, which has been undefeated for three games and, with a win in the 24th Bundesliga derby against Mainz, can remove the last quiet doubts about remaining in the class. “If we get three points on Saturday, we can look up a bit again,” said Hasebe after the recent 3-0 in Bremen.
Eintracht trainer Adi Hütter agrees. «Compliments to the team as they marched out there. If we win, we can look up again with one eye, »said the 50-year-old on Friday. “It’s a key game.”
Hütter relies on Hasebe in the defense center, who was not always the first choice this season after an outstanding preseason. However, this was less due to his performance than to a system change from triple to quadruple chain, which in the meantime cost him his regular seat and which Hütter has now given up again.
The Eintracht trainer thinks highly of Hasebe, who came to the Main from Nuremberg in 2014. “Makoto is a great player and because of his class helps us read a game.” Felix Magath had already reached a similar verdict, under which Hasebe became champion with Wolfsburg in 2009. “He makes other players look good,” said Magath at the time.
Hasebe, who enjoys hero status in his home country, conducts loudly on the lawn and has a lot to say. In 2013 he even went among the book authors. “The order of the soul – 56 habits to achieve victory” was a bestseller in Japan and earned him almost two million euros in income, which Hasebe donated to the victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
His opinion carries weight, which is why the Hessians have secured the services of the family father beyond his active career. “We are glad that we will have him on our team in the coming season and that he will remain as a brand ambassador afterwards,” said Bobic. Before that, Hasebe wants to win many games – if possible against Saturday against Mainz.
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