Nozomi Hiroyama facts for kids
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | June 6, 1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sodegaura, Chiba, Japan | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Narashino High School | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | JEF United Ichihara | 120 | (12) | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | Cerro Porteño | 29 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | Sport Recife | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Braga | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Montpellier | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2004–2008 | Tokyo Verdy | 79 | (11) | |||||||||||||
| 2005 | → Cerezo Osaka (loan) | 15 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Thespa Kusatsu | 73 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Richmond Kickers | 39 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 370 | (29) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Japan U-20 | 4 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | Japan | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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Nozomi Hiroyama (born June 6, 1975) is a former professional football player from Japan. He was a midfielder, which means he played in the middle of the field, helping both defense and attack. Hiroyama played over 400 games during his career. He played for teams in Japan, France, Portugal, Paraguay, Brazil, and the United States. He also played two games for the Japanese national team. Hiroyama was the first Japanese footballer to play in the Copa Libertadores, a big football competition in South America.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Nozomi Hiroyama played for many different football clubs around the world. Let's look at some of his most important times.
Playing in Japan
Hiroyama started his career with his hometown team, JEF United Ichihara, in Japan's top league, the J1 League. He helped his team reach the final of the J.League Cup in 1998. In his four years with JEF United, he played 120 games and scored 20 goals.
Later, he returned to Japan and joined Tokyo Verdy. He helped them win the 2004 Emperor's Cup, which is a major tournament. He also played in the 2006 AFC Champions League, a competition for top Asian clubs.
Playing in South America
Time with Cerro Porteño
In 2001, Hiroyama moved to Paraguay to play for Cerro Porteño. This was a big step because he became the first Japanese footballer to play and score in the Copa Libertadores. This is a very important club competition in South America, similar to the Champions League in Europe.
He played for Cerro Porteño for about a year and a half. During his time there, he scored 3 goals in 27 league games. In the 2001 Copa Libertadores, he scored 2 goals in 7 games. He even scored two goals in one game against Sport Boys Callao. Hiroyama and his team, Cerro Porteño, won the league tournament in 2001.
Short Time at Sport Recife
After Paraguay, he moved to Brazil to play for Sport Recife in 2002. However, he didn't get to play any official games for them. He soon left Brazil to play in Europe.
Playing in Europe
Hiroyama joined the Portuguese team Braga in 2002. He played 8 games there before moving to France. In France, he played for Montpellier. Again, he didn't play many games and decided to return to Japan in 2004.
Playing in the United States
In 2011, Hiroyama moved to the United States to play for the Richmond Kickers in the USL Professional Division. He played 20 games in his first season.
On August 17, 2012, Nozomi Hiroyama announced that he was retiring from professional football.
International Career
Nozomi Hiroyama also played for his country, Japan.
Youth National Team
In June 1997, he was chosen to play for the Japan U-20 national team in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. He played 4 games as a right midfielder and scored one goal against Paraguay.
Senior National Team
On October 4, 2001, Hiroyama played his first game for the main Japan national team against Senegal. A few days later, on October 7, he also played against Nigeria. He played a total of 2 games for Japan in 2001.
Coaching Career
After retiring as a player, Hiroyama started coaching. In 2020, he was the second coach for Japan's under-16 national team.
Personal Life
When Hiroyama lived in Paraguay, he really enjoyed the local food like Sopa paraguaya (a type of corn bread) and Empanadas (savory pastries). He also loved drinking Terere, which is a cold herbal tea popular in Paraguay. He even learned a few words in the local Guarani language.
Career Statistics
Here are some details about the games Nozomi Hiroyama played for different clubs and for his national team.
Club Appearances and Goals
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| JEF United Ichihara | 1996 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | - | 30 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | – | 40 | 4 | ||
| 1998 | 30 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | – | 35 | 9 | ||
| 1999 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 33 | 2 | ||
| 2000 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 12 | 1 | ||
| Cerro Porteño | 2001 | 29 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 36 | 5 | ||||
| Sport Recife | 2002 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Braga | 2002–03 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |
| Montpellier | 2003–04 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||||||
| Tokyo Verdy | 2004 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | |
| Cerezo Osaka (loan) | 2005 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 18 | 0 | |
| Tokyo Verdy | 2006 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 30 | 4 | |
| 2007 | 32 | 7 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 7 | |||
| 2008 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | – | 21 | 1 | ||
| Thespa Kusatsu | 2009 | 44 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 46 | 3 | ||
| 2010 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 0 | |||
| Richmond Kickers | 2011 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 23 | 1 | ||
| 2012 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 370 | 29 | 22 | 3 | 27 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 428 | 39 | |
International Appearances and Goals
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2001 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | |
See also
In Spanish: Nozomi Hiroyama para niños
