Keita Suzuki

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Keita Suzuki
Personal information
Full name	Keita Suzuki
Date of birth	July 8, 1981 (1981-07-08) (age 26)
Place of birth	Shizuoka, Japan
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Urawa Red Diamonds
Number	13
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000-	Urawa Red Diamonds	188 (5)
National team2
2006-	Japan	28 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 February 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 29 May 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Keita Suzuki (born July 8, 1981 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese football (soccer) player. He is a defensive midfielder and currently plays for Urawa Red Diamonds.

He is a cousin of Koki Mizuno of Celtic F.C.

Contents 1 Career 2 Honors and awards 2.1 Individual 2.2 Team 3 National Team Career Stats 3.1 Appearances in major competitions 4 External links

[edit] Career

After graduating from Tōkai University Fuzoku Shōyō High School, he joined J. League side Urawa Red Diamonds in 2000. His first professional appearance came in an Emperor's Cup match against Honda Lock S.C. on December 3, 2000. He broke into Urawa's first team in 2001 and became a mainstay in the midfield. He contributed to the club winning the J. League championship in 2006 and was chosen as one of the J. League Best Eleven 2006.

He was a captain for the Japan's Olympic team through the final qualifying stage to Athne 2004. However, he was not included in the final squad for the Olympic as coach Masakuni Yamamoto favoured overage player Shinji Ono.

Japan's former national coach Ivica Osim rated Suzuki highly and handed him his first senior cap on August 9, 2006, in a friendly match against Trinidad and Tobago. He is the only player who started all of the 20 matches under Osim's reign. Osim once referred to him as the Japanese answer to Claude Makélélé. [1]

[edit] Honors and awards

[edit] Individual

• J. League Best Eleven: 2006

[edit] Team

• AFC Champions League Champions: 2007
• J. League Champions: 2006
• Emperor's Cup Champions: 2005, 2006
• J. League Cup Champions: 2003
• Japanese Super Cup Champions: 2006

[edit] National Team Career Stats

[edit] Appearances in major competitions

Year	Competition	Category	Appearances		Goals	Team Record
			Start	Sub
2006	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification	Senior	5	0	0	Qualified

[edit] External links

• Career History

v • d • e Urawa Red Diamonds – current squad 1 Yamagishi • 2 Tsuboi • 3 Hosogai • 4 Tulio • 6 Yamada • 7 Takahara • 8 Alex • 9 Nagai • 10 Ponte • 11 Tanaka • 12 Tsutsumi • 13 Suzuki • 14 Hirakawa • 15 Escudero • 16 Soma • 17 Edmilson • 18 Koike • 19 Uchidate • 20 Horinouchi • 21 Umesaki • 22 Abe • 23 Tsuzuki • 24 Sakamoto • 25 Kondo • 26 Takasaki • 27 Nishizawa • 28 Kato • 29 Otani • 30 Okano • 31 Hashimoto • 32 Hayashi • Manager: Engels