Keita Suzuki (footballer, born 1981)

Keita Suzuki
鈴木啓太
Personal information
Full name	Keita Suzuki
Date of birth	8 July 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Shimizu FC
	Tokai University Daiichi Junior High School
1997–1999	Tokai University Daiichi High School
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2015	Urawa Reds
International career
2006–2008	Japan
Medal record
Urawa Reds
Representing Japan
Asian Games
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Keita Suzuki (鈴木啓太, Suzuki Keita, born 8 July 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 Tokai University Shoyo 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

Suzuki 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
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Urawa Reds	2000	0	0	2	1	0	0	-		-		2	1
	2001	15	1	4	0	2	0	-		-		21	1
	2002	26	1	1	0	4	1	-		-		31	2
	2003	29	1	1	0	10	1	-		-		40	2
	2004	25	0	4	0	8	0	-		2	0	39	0
	2005	29	0	4	0	6	2	-		-		39	2
	2006	31	1	5	0	6	0	-		1	0	43	1
	2007	33	1	1	0	0	0	12	0	5	0	51	1
	2008	23	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	-		27	0
	2009	32	1	1	0	7	0	-		-		40	1
	2010	17	0	3	0	5	0	-		-		25	0
	2011	26	1	2	0	6	0	-		-		34	1
	2012	31	2	3	0	2	0	-		-		36	2
	2013	30	0	0	0	4	0	4	0	-		38	0
	2014	28	1	1	1	3	0	-		-		32	2
	2015	4	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	10	0
Career total		379	10	34	2	64	4	22	0	9	0	508	16

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

National team statistics

^[5]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan U-23
	2002	6	1
	2003	8	0
	2004	12	1
	Total	26	2
Japan
	2006	7	0
	2007	13	0
	2008	8	0
	Total	28	0

Appearances in major competitions

Team	Competition	Category	Appearances		Goals	Team Record
Team	Competition	Category	Start	Sub	Goals	Team Record
Japan U-23	2004 Summer Olympics Qualifiers	U-22~23	6	1	1	Qualified
Japan	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification	Senior	5	0	0	Qualified
Japan	2007 AFC Asian Cup	Senior	6	0	0	4th place
Japan	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification	Senior	2	0	0	Qualified

International goals

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

Under-23

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	10 October 2002	Munsu Cup Stadium, Ulsan, South Korea	Thailand	2–0	3–0	2002 Asian Games
2.	3 March 2004	Al Jazira Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE	Lebanon	2–0	4–0	2004 Summer Olympics Qualifiers