Hasebe moves to coaching staff
At 40, the oldest Bundesliga professional has had enough
April 17, 2024, 6:03 p.m
It’s been 16 years since Makoto Hasebe first appeared in the Bundesliga. Since then he has only changed clubs twice, has been at Eintracht Frankfurt for almost ten years – and is now the oldest professional footballer in Germany. He will stay with the Hessians even after his active career.
Horst Köhler was the Federal President at the head of the republic, “Ein Stern” by DJ Ötzi had already had a full year in the charts, VfB Stuttgart was the reigning champion – and a Japanese football talent named Makoto Hasebe was introduced at VfL Wolfsburg. But what began in January 2008 will end in May 2024 – the oldest active professional in the Bundesliga is calling it quits.
“I’ve thought about this decision carefully and now I think it’s the right time,” said the Eintracht Frankfurt defensive player, who has played 383 games in the elite class for Wolfsburg, 1. FC Nürnberg and Hesse: “I’m looking forward to it Proud of what I’ve been able to experience and achieve over the years. I’ll be a fan from next season.”
Hasebe, who was born in Fujieda on the Japanese main island of Honshu, will stay with Eintracht. From the coming season he will take on a coaching role within the club. “You can also play football with children. Then maybe I’m the best,” said the three-time World Cup participant, who has 144 international matches under his belt, with a wink: “I’m starting to notice my age now.”
Too old at 30?
When Hasebe played in the game against VfB Stuttgart (0-3) on Saturday, he was exactly 40 years, two months and 26 days old. This puts the model professional in ninth place in the all-time Bundesliga age rankings, which is led by Schalke idol Klaus Fichtel (43 years, six months and two days).
Ten years ago it didn’t look like Hasebe would become the oldest professional in Eintracht’s history. He had to worry about his very first contract on the Main in 2014 because the bosses at the time around Heribert Bruchhagen asked themselves whether the then 30-year-old Hasebe wasn’t already too old (!).
“model professional”
Since then, Hasebe has experienced a second spring countless times, and his current coach Dino Toppmöller is Hasebe’s 14th coach in the Bundesliga. After his successes in Japan (champion, cup winner, Asian Champions League winner), he also celebrated a number of successes in Germany: champion in 2009 with Wolfsburg, cup winner in 2018 and Europa League champion in 2022 with Frankfurt.
The goal that he formulated at the presentation in Wolfsburg (“I am confident that I will prevail here”) can be ticked off under the heading “achieved”. “Makoto can look back on a career as a model professional,” said Frankfurt sports director Markus Krösche: “Makoto has achieved great things for Eintracht Frankfurt.”
The secret of his “eternal youth” has long been no longer one; after all, Hasebe wrote down the key points of his professionalism in his 2011 book “The Order of the Soul. 56 Habits to Achieve Victory”. Since then, everyone has known that Hasebe takes good care of his body, bathes every day, meditates, reads a lot and attaches great importance to getting enough sleep. Hasebe lived his dream of the Bundesliga: “I don’t regret anything.”