Keita Suzuki

Keita Suzuki
鈴木 啓太
Personal information
Full name Keita Suzuki
Date of birth (1981-07-08) July 8, 1981
Place of birth Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2015 Urawa Reds 379 (10)
National team
2006–2008 Japan 28 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Keita Suzuki (鈴木 啓太, Suzuki Keita, born July 8, 1981) is a former Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

He is a cousin of Koki Mizuno.[1] His wife is Japanese actress Hiroko Hatano.

Club career

After graduating from Tōkai University Fuzoku Shōyō High School, he joined J2 League side Urawa Reds in 2000. His first professional appearance came in an Emperor's Cup match against Honda Lock SC on 3 December 2000. He broke into Urawa's first team in 2001 and became a mainstay in midfielder. He contributed to the club winning the J1 League championship in 2006 and was chosen as one of the 2006 J.League Best XI. In 2007, the club won the champions AFC Champions League and the 3rd place Club World Cup. He was also elected Japanese Footballer of the Year award. Although he played many matches every seasons, he lost opportunity to play in 2015. In October, he announced that he would be leaving his only club at the end of that season.[2] After the last game of 2015 regular season in November, he announced his retirement from football.[3]

National team career

He was captain for Japan U-23 national team throughout the 2004 Summer Olympics Qualifiers. However, he was not included in the final squad for the 2004 Summer Olympics as manager Masakuni Yamamoto favoured overage player Shinji Ono.

Japan national team manager Ivica Osim rated Suzuki highly and handed him his first senior cap on 9 August 2006, in a friendly match against Trinidad and Tobago. He was the only player who started all 20 matches under Osim's reign. Osim once referred to him as the Japanese answer to Claude Makélélé.[4] He played 28 games for Japan until 2008.[5]

Club statistics

Club Season League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Champions League Other1 Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Urawa Reds 2000 002100--21
2001 1514020--211
2002 2611041--312
2003 29110101--402
2004 2504080-20390
2005 2904062--392
2006 3115060-10431
2007 331100012050511
2008 230201010-270
2009 3211070--401
2010 1703050--250
2011 2612060--341
2012 3123020--362
2013 300004040-380
2014 2811130--322
2015 4000005010100
Career total 379103426442209050816

1Includes J. League Championship, Japanese Super Cup, A3 Champions Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

National team statistics

[5]

National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan U-23
200261
200380
2004121
Total262
Japan
200670
2007130
200880
Total280

Appearances in major competitions

Team Competition Category Appearances Goals Team Record
Start Sub
Japan U-232004 Summer Olympics QualifiersU-22~23611Qualified
Japan2007 AFC Asian Cup qualificationSenior500Qualified
Japan2007 AFC Asian CupSenior6004th place
Japan2010 FIFA World Cup qualificationSenior200Qualified

International goals

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

Under-23

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.10 October 2002Munsu Cup Stadium, Ulsan, South Korea Thailand
2–0
3–0
2002 Asian Games
2.3 March 2004Al Jazira Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE Lebanon
2–0
4–0
2004 Summer Olympics Qualifiers

Honours

Japan

2007

Club

Urawa Red Diamonds
2006
2015
2005, 2006
2003
2007
2006

Individual

  • Japanese Footballer of the Year: 1
2007
2006, 2007

References

  1. ↑ "Emperor's Cup preview". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). 2 November 2006.
  2. ↑ J.League
  3. ↑ J.League
  4. ↑ 【日本代表 vs イエメン代表】前日練習後のオシム監督コメント（06.09.06）(in Japanese)
  5. 1 2 Japan National Football Team Database
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