Akinori Nishizawa

Akinori Nishizawa
西澤明訓
Personal information
Date of birth	18 June 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1992–1994	Shimizu Higashi High School
Senior career*
Years	Team
1995–2000	Cerezo Osaka
1995–1996	→Volendam (loan)
2000–2001	Espanyol
2001	Cerezo Osaka
2001–2002	Bolton Wanderers
2002–2006	Cerezo Osaka
2007–2008	Shimizu S-Pulse
2009	Cerezo Osaka
Total
International career
1997–2002	Japan
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Japan
AFC Asian Cup
FIFA Confederations Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Akinori Nishizawa (西澤明訓, Nishizawa Akinori, born 18 June 1976) is a Japanese former footballer who played as a forward. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Nishizawa was born in Shizuoka on 18 June 1976. After graduating from Shimizu Higashi High School, he joined Cerezo Osaka in 1995. He moved to Spanish club Espanyol in December 2000. In July 2001, he moved to English club Bolton Wanderers. During his brief spell playing Bolton Wanderers, he is best remembered for scoring a dramatic late equaliser against Walsall in the League Cup.^[1] In 2002, he returned to Cerezo Osaka was relegated to J2 League from 2002. The club won the 2nd place in 2002 and was promoted to J1 League. In 2006, the club was relegated to J2 League. He moved to his local club Shimizu S-Pulse in 2007. He returned to Cerezo Osaka in 2009 and he retired end of 2009 season.

International career

On 21 May 1997, Nishizawa debuted for Japan national team against South Korea. Although he played four games and scored two goals at 1998 World Cup qualification in 1997, he was not selected Japan for 1998 World Cup. In 2000, he played for Japan for the first time in three years. At 2000 Asian Cup in October, he played all six games and scored five goals. Japan won the champions. At 2001 Confederations Cup, he also played four games and scored one goal. Japan achieved second place. He was selected Japan for 2002 World Cup and played one game. This match was his last game for Japan. He played 29 games and scored 10 goals for Japan until 2002.^[2]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cerezo Osaka	1995	J1 League	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
	1996		14	3	2	0	11	5	27	8
	1997		19	7	2	1	2	2	23	10
	1998		32	7	1	0	4	1	37	8
	1999		30	11	2	4	3	2	35	17
	2000		29	15	–		3	2	32	17
	Total		124	43	7	5	23	12	154	60
Volendam (loan)	1995–96	Eredivisie	0	0			–		0	0
Espanyol	2000–01	La Liga	6	0	2	0	–		8	0
Cerezo Osaka	2001	J1 League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bolton Wanderers	2001–02	Premier League	0	0	0	0	3	1	3	1
Cerezo Osaka	2002	J2 League	34	8	1	0	–		35	8
	2003	J1 League	24	7	5	1	4	1	33	9
	2004		29	8	1	0	5	1	35	9
	2005		28	10	2	0	8	4	38	14
	2006		33	8	1	0	6	4	40	12
	Total		148	41	10	1	23	10	181	52
Shimizu S-Pulse	2007	J1 League	22	0	3	2	6	1	31	3
	2008	J1 League	21	5	0	0	8	2	29	7
	Total		43	5	3	2	14	3	60	10
Cerezo Osaka	2009	J2 League	18	1	0	0	–		18	1
Career total			339	90	22	8	63	26	424	124

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[2]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	1997	5	2
	1998	0	0
	1999	0	0
	2000	11	6
	2001	8	1
	2002	5	1
Total		29	10

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

List of international goals scored by Akinori Nishizawa
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	1997
2	1997
3	5 June 2000	Casablanca, Morocco	France	2–2	Friendly
4	17 October 2000	Sidon, Lebanon	Uzbekistan	8–1	2000 AFC Asian Cup
5
6
7	20 October 2000	Beirut, Lebanon	Qatar	1–1	2000 AFC Asian Cup
8	26 October 2000	Beirut, Lebanon	China	3–2	2000 AFC Asian Cup
9	22 June 2006	Niigata, Japan	Canada	3–0	2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
10	29 April 2002	Tokyo, Japan	Slovakia	1–0	2002 Kirin Cup