Keita Suzuki
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Keita Suzuki | ||
| Date of birth | 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) |
| Total | 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 Japan national team. He was a defensive midfielder.
He is a cousin of Koki Mizuno. His wife is a Japanese actress Hiroko Hatano.
After graduating from Tōkai University Fuzoku Shōyō High School, he joined J2 League side Urawa Red Diamonds 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 the midfield. He contributed to the club winning the J1 League championship in 2006 and was chosen as one of the J.League Best Eleven 2006. In October 2015, he announced that he'll leave his only squad at the end of the season.
He was a captain for the Japan's Olympic team through the final qualifying stage to Athens 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 9 August 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.
...
Wikipedia