‘Japanese David Beckham’ retired aged 29 and became ‘perfect’ underwear model

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    Cult football hero Hidetoshi Nakata did modelling in his later years following his retirement from football.

    The fan-favourite Japanese star, likened to David Beckham, thoroughly enjoyed fashion as a past-time – even through his playing days.

    Being shrewd, he dyed his hair blond for the 1998 World Cup in the hope of attracting the attention of European scouts.

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    It did not get him a huge move but it piqued the interest of the likes of Andrea Tenerani, a photographer for GQ, who said of the midfielder: "He's perfect; he's like a model. And he's totally obsessed with fashion."

    Meanwhile, Calvin Klein designer Italo Zucchelli said, "(Nakata) plays with fashion like all of them now, but in a cooler, more sophisticated way than many others."

    Nakata went on to be one of the models featuring the Calvin Klein underwear campaign in 2010 – similar to how Beckham undertook fashion during his career.

    The former Serie A star took things one step further as he is now an editor-at-large at Monocle magazine, a global affairs and lifestyle magazine.

    Back in the day, Nakata was considered one of the best players in the game.

    He won the Scudetto with Roma in 2001, while he also featured for Japan in three World Cup tournaments (1998, 2002 and 2006).

    Things came to a drastic end for the Japanese international when he opted to retire at age of just 29, bringing to an end an illustrious 10-year career.

    In 2018, Nakata was added as an icon to the Ultimate Team on the FIFA video game FIFA 18 – cementing his legacy.

    "Day after day I realised that football had just become a big business,” the now 45-year-old told TMW Magazine. “I could feel that the team were playing just for money and not for the sake of having fun. I always felt that a team was like a big family, but it stopped being like that.

    “I was sad, that’s why I stopped at only 29.”

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