Seigo Narazaki

Seigo Narazaki (楢﨑 正剛, Narazaki Seigō, born 15 April 1976) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.^[2] He played for Japan national team.

Seigo Narazaki
楢﨑 正剛

Personal information
Full name	Seigo Narazaki[1]
Date of birth	(1976-04-15) 15 April 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Kashiba, Nara, Japan
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1992–1994	Nara Ikuei High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1998	Yokohama Flügels	104	(0)
1999–2018	Nagoya Grampus	556	(0)
Total		660	(0)
International career
2000	Japan Olympic (O.P.)	4	(0)
1998–2010	Japan	77	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Japan FIFA Confederations Cup Runner-up 2001 South Korea–Japan AFC Asian Cup Winner 2004 China
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Narazaki is the second highest number of J.League all-time appearances in history with 631 appearances.

Club career

Yokohama Flügels

After graduating from Nara Ikuei High School in 1995, Narazaki joined the J1 League side Yokohama Flügels. In August 1995, regular goalkeeper Atsuhiko Mori was suspended for three months due to violence against referee. On 16 August 1995, Narazaki debuted against Bellmare Hiratsuka to replace Mori^[3][4] and Narazaki became the regular goalkeeper. In the 1996 season, Flügels finished in third place and Narazaki was also selected in the Best Eleven award. He contributed to the club winning the 1998 Emperor's Cup. However, Flügels was merged with cross-town team Yokohama Marinos and Flügels was dissolved at the end of the 1998 season.

Nagoya Grampus

In 1999, Narazaki moved to Nagoya Grampus Eight (later Nagoya Grampus) with Flügels teammate Motohiro Yamaguchi. In 1999, Grampus were the champions of the Emperor's Cup for two years in a row, the second time in two years for Narazaki. In 2008, Grampus appointed new manager Dragan Stojković who played for Grampus until 2001. Grampus, under Stojković, reached third place in the J1 League and Narazaki was selected in the Best Eleven award. In 2010, Grampus won the J1 League and were champions for the first time in the club's history. Narazaki also became the first goalkeeper to receive the J.League Most Valuable Player award.^[5] In 2016 season, Grampus finished in 16th place of 18 clubs and was relegated to J2 League for the first time in the club history. In the 2017 J2 League season, the club finished third and were returned to the top flight. However, his opportunities to play decreased behind Yohei Takeda until summer.^[6] In 2018, Narazaki was effectively relegated to second choice behind new Australian signing Mitchell Langerak and did not make a single appearance.^[7]

Narazaki announced his retirement from football on 8 January 2019.^[8] He was 42 years old.

International career

On 15 February 1998, Narazaki made his international debut for Japan national team against Australia.^[9] After the debut, he battles with Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi for the position for 10 years. He was selected Japan for 1998 World Cup. However, Kawaguchi played in Japan’s three matches at the tournament.

In 2000, Narazaki was selected Japan U23 national team as over age for 2000 Summer Olympics and played full time in all 4 matches. Although he could hardly play in the match in 2001, he played many matches in 2002. At 2002 World Cup in Japan, he played all 4 matches and Japan qualified to the knockout stage first time in their history.

Narazaki played many matches as regular goalkeeper until summer 2004. Although he was selected Japan for 2004 Asian Cup, he could not play for injury.^[10] His rival Kawaguchi performed brilliantly at Asian Cup and Japan won the champions. After Asian Cup, Narazaki lost regular position behind Kawaguchi. Although Narazaki was selected Japan for 2006 World Cup, he did not play in a match.

Although Narazaki could not play many matches until 2007, he became a regular goalkeeper because Kawaguchi was injured in 2008. Narazaki was named in the 2010 World Cup squad as one of two Japanese players (the other being Kawaguchi) to be selected for 4 consecutive World Cups. However, despite performing impressively in the qualifiers, he was benched for the tournament in favour of his former understudy Eiji Kawashima. He would make one last appearance for Japan when he captained the team to a 2–1 victory over Guatemala on 7 September 2010 before retiring from international duty. He played 77 games for Japan.^[9]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[11]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Yokohama Flügels	1995	J1 League	23	0	2	0	—		—		25	0
	1996		23	0	2	0	14	0	—		39	0
	1997		24	0	5	0	7	0	—		36	0
	1998		34	0	5	0	0	0	—		39	0
	Total		104	0	14	0	21	0	—		139	0
Nagoya Grampus Eight	1999	J1 League	25	0	5	0	4	0	—		34	0
	2000		30	0	2	0	2	0	—		34	0
	2001		28	0	1	0	6	0	—		35	0
	2002		30	0	3	0	0	0	—		33	0
	2003		28	0	2	0	6	0	—		36	0
	2004		26	0	2	0	0	0	—		28	0
	2005		32	0	1	0	0	0	—		33	0
	2006		24	0	2	0	2	0	—		28	0
	2007		29	0	2	0	4	0	—		35	0
Nagoya Grampus	2008		30	0	1	0	2	0	—		33	0
	2009		26	0	3	0	0	0	6	0	35	0
	2010		34	0	0	0	0	0	—		34	0
	2011		24	0	3	0	2	0	6	0	34	0
	2012		32	0	4	0	1	0	7	0	34	0
	2013		34	0	1	0	6	0	—		41	0
	2014		34	0	2	0	6	0	—		42	0
	2015		34	0	0	0	6	0	—		40	0
	2016		27	0	1	0	3	0	—		31	0
	2017	J2 League	29	0	0	0	—		—		29	0
	2018	J1 League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		556	0	35	0	50	0	19	0	660	0
Career total			660	0	49	0	71	0	19	0	799	0

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[9]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	1998	2	0
	1999	3	0
	2000	9	0
	2001	1	0
	2002	10	0
	2003	12	0
	2004	9	0
	2005	4	0
	2006	0	0
	2007	1	0
	2008	12	0
	2009	6	0
	2010	8	0
Total		77	0

Honors

Club

Yokohama Flügels

• Emperor's Cup: 1998

Nagoya Grampus

• J1 League: 2010
• Emperor's Cup: 1999
• Japanese Super Cup: 2011

International

Japan

• AFC Asian Cup: 2004

Individual

• J.League Most Valuable Player: 2010
• J.League Best Eleven: 1996, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011

References

1. "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Japan" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
2. Seigo Narazaki at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
3. Seigo Narazaki at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
4. J.League
5. "Goalkeeper Narazaki named player of year". The Japan Times. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
6. J.League
7. J.League
8. 楢崎 正剛選手、現役引退のお知らせ. nagoya-grampus.jp (in Japanese). Nagoya Grampus. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
9. Japan National Football Team Database
10. kirin.co.jp
11. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 155 out of 289)

External links

• Seigo Narazaki – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Seigo Narazaki at National-Football-Teams.com
• Japan National Football Team Database
• Seigo Narazaki at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
• Profile at Nagoya Grampus