Although now in his mid-40s, many were caught by surprise this week as the J.League’s MVP of the last thirty years, Yasuhito Endo, announced his retirement from the game and would return to Gamba Osaka to take up a coaching role. Indeed, I’ve been following Endo’s career since the 1999 FIFA Youth World Cup.
Back in late April 1999, the young Samurai Blue were preparing for the game of their lives. The route to the FIFA Youth World Cup final had already seen them overcome challenges from Portugal, Mexico and Uruguay. They had to negotiate the final with Spain and a number of players who would go on to represent Europe’s elite clubs. The thick smog of Lagos’ humidity and pollution and a nation that conquered the game at club, continental and international level years late was too much for Asia’s representatives as La Rojita won the game 4-0. The final proved to be a fateful encounter as two players on the pitch that day would mirror each other’s styles, roles and successes – Xavier Hernandez and Yasuhito Endo. Though both players would be fundamental to their teams, Endo’s path to success was more turbulent than Xavi’s.
Prior to the tournament in Nigeria, Endo had won the Emperor’s Cup with Yokohama Flugels. However, his joy was short-lived as the club’s investor decided to pull all financial support, and the young midfielder was transferred to Kyoto Sanga. Two years after signing for the Nintendo sponsored purple Sanga, the Kagoshima native suffered disappointment, again, as his team were relegated from J1. Kyoto Sanga’s relegation was seen as a surprise as Daisuke Matsui, Park Ji Sung and the Peter Pan of the Japanese game, Kazuyoshi Miura, were on the team’s roster. Endo had played consistently in his two years at Kyoto, and relegation didn’t deter the ambitious Gamba Osaka from signing the midfielder.
The J. League wasn’t even a decade old when Gamba signed the midfielder from Sanga but support was growing and the club, one of ten members who founded the league in 1993, were desperately seeking a league title. Gamba recruited Akira Nishino, who managed Japan’s youth teams and had taken Kashiwa Reysol to Nabisco Cup glory. With his attacking philosophy and experience managing Japan’s youth teams, Nishino’s hire was well planned as Gamba were producing players of their own. It was during this period that I started following Gamba Osaka; I liked the black and blue strip and thought they’d be a reliable team as they were one of the league’s founders. They also had Yasuhito Endo. Magrao was a forward who knew where the goal was and youth graduates, Hideo Hashimoto, Masashi Oguro and Takahiro Futagawa, had progressed to playing regularly in Japan’s top tier but it was the number 7 who impressed the most. Indeed, the midfielder was the only Gamba player to be named in the the J. League’s best eleven in 2003 and, though he was sent off against Bahrain in the semi-final, had won the Asian Cup a year later with the Samurai Blue. His individual success and that with the national team transmitted to Gamba as they won their first league title, 13 years after founding the league, in 2005. Sure, it could be argued that Cerezo lost that title rather than Gamba had won it but it would be unjust to overlook Araujo’s goals and the manner in which Endo orchestrated the team.
Endo’s name would be included in the league’s best eleven the following year, which was his fourth consecutive inclusion and more than his contemporaries, but Japan disappointed at the World Cup in Germany and Gamba failed to qualify for Asia’s Champions League. Perhaps the circumstances in which Gamba and Endo won that first title in 2005 and their failures in 2006 drove them to succeed in 2007, as they won the Nabisco Cup and defeated league champions Urawa Reds 4-0 to win the Fuji Super Cup, and a third place finish in the league that year saw them qualify for the AFC Champions League.
2008 would see Gamba triumph on the continent as they won the AFC Champions League. Endo’s performances in Asia’s premier club competition, including a semi-final victory against rivals Urawa Reds, were recognised as he was named the best player of the competition, and Gamba’s continental success would be a gateway for the player to showcase his skills on the world stage at the Club World Cup. Gamba’s first game at the Club World Cup was against Australia’s Adelaide United. The victor’s reward was a semi-final against one of the world’s greatest and most prestigious club teams, Manchester United. It took just 23 minutes for Gamba to breach the Australian defence, with the number 7, Yasuhito Endo, placing the ball through Galekovic’s legs to score the winning goal. The club from Osaka now had to compete with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney and Endo’s former teammate at Kyoto Sanga, Park Ji Sung, for a place in the final and the opportunity to be crowned the world’s best club team. The European champion’s custodian was none other than Edwin van der Sar, one of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time who commanded the penalty area with his tall, athletic build. The Manchester United goalkeeper was aware of Gamba’s number 7 and had studied Endo’s korokoro penalty-kick. Such is the trust that the player has with his right foot, his eyes are fixated on the position and movement of the goalkeeper until slowly passing the ball into the opposite side of the goalkeeper’s dive. It was a game of poker as the Dutchman waited for Endo’s kick, instead of preempting where the player would place it, and dived the right way but Endo had won the duel as his kick was well placed into the low corner of the net and out of van der Sar’s reach.
The former Manchester United and Netherlands stalwart can take some small comfort in knowing he wasn’t the only European to feel the wrath of Endo’s right foot as the midfielder’s technique was exhibited in the global arena, again, two years later at the 2010 World Cup. On this occasion, it was Stoke City’s Thomas Sorenson who was on the receiving end of Endo’s right foot as Japan’s number 7 curled a free-kick around the Danish wall and into the goal’s left. The former Aston Villa and Sunderland goalkeeper was fortunate not to concede from another Endo free-kick in the same game, with the post coming to his rescue.
It was a time when the ilk of Deco, Juninho Pernambucano, Pirlo, Xabi Alonso and Xavi thrived as midfielders were valued more for their passing and creativity than pace, stamina and powerful frames, and this trend wasn’t restricted to Europe. Endo wasn’t blessed with blistering pace or an intimidating physique but he was a craftsman who manipulated the ball so that it hurt the opposition and did the running for him. Remits like scoring and defending carry great responsibility but Endo was given the task of imposing himself by dictating the rhythm and pace of the game as well as providing opportunities for teammates, and he did it with a composed, elegant demeanour. His positional awareness and passing ability allowed him to revel in both regista and trequartista roles. A lethal right peg, his name would be on the scoresheet, too, as his free-kicks and penalties would render goalkeepers and the defending wall to mere spectators.
Endo had opportunities to go to Europe but chose to stay in the J. League, where he would be named in the league’s best eleven for 9 consecutive years in 2012. Not only did he choose to stay on home soil, he chose to continue serving Gamba even during the club’s darkest hour. The club were relegated to J2 in 2013 but Endo made the decision to represent the Osaka club in Japan’s second tier and relinquished any chance of a tenth consecutive inclusion in the J. League’s best eleven. However, the player’s loyalty was repaid after the club tasked Kenta Hasegawa of making a swift return to J1. The former Shimizu S-Pulse manager didn’t disappoint. Like Nishino just over a decade before, Gamba had found their Mr. Right as, not only did Hasegawa manage Gamba to promotion to J1, the team completed a league and cup double in their first season back in the top flight in 2014, and Endo won another individual accolade as he was named the league’s most valuable player.
The last time I saw the great man in a Gamba game was back in 2017. It wasn’t just any game. It was the Osaka derby, and the first one since Cerezo won promotion from J2. Endo got an assist that day and, in hindsight, the 2-2 draw at Yanmar was a good result for Gamba as Cerezo would complete a cup double that year. However, it was evident on that balmy spring day that the number seven was no longer at the peak of his powers.
Fast forward to 2020 and over half a decade since Gamba won any silverware, Endo, now in his forties, was seeing less minutes on the pitch. A call came from Shizuoka side, Jubilo Iwata. Jubilo, a powerhouse of the Japanese game in the late 90s, were in J2. After nearly two decades with Gamba, Endo made the move east to Shizuoka. Not only was he in the starting eleven, he was also getting his name on the scoresheet; of course, as you might expect, with a couple of freekicks. Sure, he was no longer getting forward as much, but his ability to dictate the pace of the game and range of passing was still there. In just over year since joining Jubilo, the former Gamba captain tasted glory once again as Jubilo won promotion and would return to J1; however, his time at Jubilo would be marked by fluctuation as the team were relegated to J2 in 2022 before winning promotion (again) in Endo’s final season.
Journalists and former players frequently shower encomium on the artisan midfielder, Iniesta, Modric, Pirlo and Xavi, or you’ll likely hear the names Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa, Shunsuke Nakamura or Hidetoshi Nakata when asking a fan in a part of the world other than the Far East who their favourite Japanese player is. Perhaps he’s overlooked because he never played for a European club; he courted interest but never made the move, and it’s testament to the player’s loyalty that he remained with Gamba when they were relegated to J2. Living in the Far East, I’m fortunate to watch and be aware of such players. Japan’s most capped player, who was in the J. League’s best eleven for 12 seasons and Asia’s player of the year in 2009, Yasuhito Endo, sits among the pantheon of the world’s most refined and sophisticated midfielders.
Japan's Iconic Number 7 