Ryoichi Maeda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ryoichi Maeda
前田 遼一

Maeda in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth	(1981-10-09) 9 October 1981 (age 42)
Place of birth	Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Height	1.83 m
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
1997–1999	Gyosei High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2014	Júbilo Iwata	363	(154)
2015–2018	FC Tokyo	103	(17)
2017–2018	FC Tokyo U-23	10	(3)
2019–2020	FC Gifu	59	(6)
Total		525	(177)
National team
2000–2001	Japan U-20	12	(5)
2003–2004	Japan U-23	5	(0)
2007–2013	Japan	33	(10)
Honours Júbilo Iwata Winner J1 League 2002 Runner-up J1 League 2001 Runner-up J1 League 2003 Winner J.League Cup 2010 Runner-up J.League Cup 2001 Winner Emperor's Cup 2003 Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2004 Representing  Japan AFC Asian Cup Gold 2011 Qatar Asian Games Silver 2002 Busan Team AFC U-19 Championship Silver 2000 Iran
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of end of 2020 season. † Appearances (Goals).

Ryoichi Maeda (前田 遼一, Maeda Ryōichi, born 9 October 1981) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He currently works as an assistant coach for the Japan national team.

Club career

Maeda was born in Kobe, Japan but spent his childhood in the United States. He was educated at and played for Gyosei Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo. While he was a high school student, he was chosen as one of the Designated Players for Development by J.League and JFA. Because of this status, Maeda was able to register as a Verdy Kawasaki player while he was still eligible to play for his high school club. However, he did not play any official match for Verdy.

After graduating from his high school in 2000, he joined Júbilo Iwata. His first appearance as a professional player came on 3 May 2000 in a league match against Kawasaki Frontale. His first professional goal came on 28 August 2001 in a J.League Cup game against JEF United Ichihara. Although he could not play many matches behind Masashi Nakayama and Naohiro Takahara until 2002, he played as regular player from 2003. In the season 2009 was the J.League Top Scorer with twenty goals. In the 2010 season, Maeda became the top scorer again, netting 17 times. Júbilo also won the champions in 2010 J.League Cup. At 2010 J.League Cup Final, he scored two goals and was selected MVP award in the tournament. However Júbilo was relegated to J2 League end of 2013 season. In 2014, although he scored 17 goals, Júbilo finished at the 4th place and missed promotion to J1.

In 2015, Maeda moved to J1 club FC Tokyo. He played as regular player until 2016. However his opportunity to play decreased from 2017 and he could hardly score goals in the match.

In 2019, Maeda moved to J2 club FC Gifu.

Curse of Maeda

Since the 2007 season, for six straight seasons, each team Maeda scores his first goal of the league campaign against has eventually been relegated to J2 League. This has given rise to the so-called "curse of (Ryoichi) Maeda". It became a topic of wide public conversation in late 2012 as Gamba Osaka, the team that he scored his first goal of that season against, was in the relegation zone despite having not ranked lower than third in the previous three seasons. Consistent with the "curse", Gamba Osaka was relegated to J2 following the last game of the season in which they lost against, funnily enough, Jubilo Iwata 2–1 with Maeda scoring a goal and an assist. The curse came to an end by the end of the 2013 season, as Maeda's first goal of the 2013 season came in a loss to Urawa, who will not be relegated.

International career

Maeda played for Japan U20 at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina. He also played for Japan U23 at the 2004 Summer Olympics qualification but failed to be picked up to the squad for the finals in Greece.

After impressive performance at club, Maeda made his international debut for Japan in a friendly against Cameroon on 22 August 2007 at Oita Stadium. He scored his first international goal on 17 October 2007 in a friendly against Egypt at Nagai Stadium in Osaka. In 2011, Maeda participated in his first major full international tournament at 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar and started all six games in Japan's Asian Cup winning campaign. He was selected Japan for 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He played 33 games and scored 10 goals for Japan until 2013.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Maeda goal.

List of international goals scored by Ryoichi Maeda

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 October 2007	Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan	Egypt	3–0	4–1	2007 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
2	17 February 2008	Olympic Sports Center, Chongqing, China	North Korea	1–1	1–1	East Asian Football Championship 2008
3	17 January 2011	Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar	Saudi Arabia	3–0	5–0	2011 AFC Asian Cup
4				4–0
5	25 January 2011	Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha, Qatar	South Korea	1–1	2–2	2011 AFC Asian Cup
6	11 November 2011	Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe, Tajikistan	Tajikistan	3–0	4–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	24 February 2012	Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan	Iceland	1–0	3–1	Friendly
8	3 June 2012	Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan	Oman	2–0	3–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	8 June 2012	Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan	Jordan	1–0	6–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	11 September 2012	Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan	Iraq	1–0	1–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Júbilo Iwata

• J1 League: 2002
• J.League Cup: 2010
• Japanese Super Cup: 2003

Japan

• AFC Asian Cup: 2011
• Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 2007

Individual

• Asian Young Footballer of the Year: 2000
• J.League Top Scorer: 2009, 2010
• J.League Best XI: 2009, 2010
• J.League Cup MVP: 2010

See also

In Spanish: Ryōichi Maeda para niños