Kenichi Uemura facts for kids
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kenichi Uemura | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | April 22, 1974 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Defender | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Matsunaga High School | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1993–2003 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 251 | (23) | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | Cerezo Osaka | 15 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Tokyo Verdy | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | YSCC Yokohama | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Roasso Kumamoto | 58 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 343 | (26) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Japan U-23 | 2 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | Japan | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Kamatamare Sanuki | |||||||||||||||
| 2024– | China U-17 | |||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Kenichi Uemura (born April 22, 1974) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He was a strong defender who played for many clubs in Japan. He also represented the Japan national team in international matches. After his playing career, Uemura became a football manager.
Contents
Playing Career
Kenichi Uemura was born in Yatsushiro, Japan. He started his football journey at Matsunaga High School. After finishing school, he joined Sanfrecce Hiroshima, a professional team in the J1 League, in 1993.
Early Club Years
Uemura quickly became an important player for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. He made his first league appearance in July 1993. Just a few weeks later, he scored his first professional goal. He played as a defender and was a regular player for the team for 11 years. He stayed with Sanfrecce Hiroshima until 2003.
Later Club Years
After his long time at Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Uemura moved to Cerezo Osaka in 2004. He then played for Tokyo Verdy from 2005 to 2006. He also had a short time at YSCC Yokohama. In 2007, he joined Rosso Kumamoto, which later became Roasso Kumamoto.
During his career, Uemura faced several challenges with injuries. He hurt his knee ligaments three times and had seven operations. These injuries made it hard for him to play his best. He decided to retire from professional football after the 2008 season.
National Team Career
Kenichi Uemura also played for Japan on the international stage.
Olympic Games
In 1996, Uemura was part of the Japan U-23 national team. He played in the 1996 Summer Olympics. He played two matches and even scored a goal against Hungary. Although Japan won two games, they did not make it past the first round. One of their wins was against Brazil. This victory was a big surprise and is known as the "Miracle of Miami" in Japan.
Senior National Team
In April 2001, Uemura was chosen to play for the Japan senior national team. He made his first full international appearance on April 25, 2001, in a friendly match against Spain.
He was also a member of the Japan team that played in the 2001 Confederations Cup. He played three games in this tournament. Japan performed very well and finished in second place. In total, Uemura played four games for the Japan national team in 2001.
Coaching Career
After retiring as a player, Kenichi Uemura started a new career as a coach.
He began coaching at J2 League club Roasso Kumamoto in 2009. In 2013, he moved to another J2 club, Kamatamare Sanuki. There, he worked as a coach under manager Makoto Kitano.
In 2019, Uemura became the manager of Kamatamare Sanuki. He took over from Kitano. Later, in 2024, he became the manager for the China U-17 team.
Honors and Awards
Team Honors
- FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-Up: 2001 (with Japan national team)
See also
In Spanish: Ken'ichi Uemura para niños
