Azusa Iwashimizu (岩清水 梓, Iwashimizu Azusa, born 14 October 1986) is a Japanese footballer who played as a defender for Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the WE League and the Japan national team.

Azusa Iwashimizu
岩清水 梓
Personal information
Full name Azusa Iwashimizu
Date of birth (1986-10-14) 14 October 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Takizawa, Iwate, Japan
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Number 33
Youth career
1999–2002 Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003– Tokyo Verdy Beleza 278 (21)
Total 278 (21)
International career
2006–2016 Japan 122 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 December 2018

Club career

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Iwashimizu was born in Takizawa on 14 October 1986. In 2003, she was promoted to Nippon TV Beleza after developing in their youth team. She played 260 matches in the L.League until 2017. She was elected to the league's Best XI for 12 years in a row (2006-2017).

National team career

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On 18 February 2006, when Iwashimizu was 19 years old, she debuted for Japan national team against Russia.[1] She has played in the 2007, 2011 and 2015 World Cups, winning the 2011 World Cup and winning a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2][3] In the final minute of extra time in the 2011 World Cup Final, she was sent off after receiving a red card for slide tackling Alex Morgan. Japan would go on to win the match in the penalty shootout that followed.[4]

Iwashimizu was instrumental in Japan's victory at the 2014 Asian Cup, scoring the winning goal in both the semifinal against China and the final against Australia.[5] She played 122 games and scored 11 goals for Japan until 2016.

Club statistics

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As of 11 November 2012
Club Season League Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nippon TV Beleza 2003 17 1 1 0 - 18 1
2004 0 0 -
2005 16 1 4 0 - 20 1
2006 17 3 3 0 - 20 3
2007 19 1 3 0 1 0 23 1
2008 16 2 0 0 - 16 2
2009 21 2 4 0 - 25 2
2010 17 2 1 0 5 0 23 2
2011 16 1 3 0 - 19 1
2012 17 1 5 0
Career total 156 14 11 0

National team statistics

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[1][6]

Honors and awards

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Team

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Japan women's national football team
Champion: 2011
Champion: 2010
Champions: 2008, 2010
Champion: 2014
Nippon TV Beleza
Champions (11): 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Champions: 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018
Champions: 2007, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018

Individual

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Best Eleven (13): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

References

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  1. ^ a b Japan Football Association(in Japanese)
  2. ^ Azusa Iwashimizu FIFA
  3. ^ "Azusa Iwashimizu Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  4. ^ "USA v Japan - as it happened". The Guardian. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Japan Wins Women's Asian Cup". The Wall Street Journal. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. ^ List of match in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 Archived 11 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, 2016 at Japan Football Association (in Japanese)
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