Takahiro Yamada (footballer)

Takahiro Yamada (山田 隆裕, Yamada Takahiro, born April 29, 1972) is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.

Takahiro Yamada
山田 隆裕
Personal information
Full name Takahiro Yamada
Date of birth (1972-04-29) April 29, 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1988–1990 Shimizu Commercial High School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1997 Yokohama Marinos 159 (18)
1998 Kyoto Purple Sanga 29 (1)
1999 Verdy Kawasaki 27 (1)
2000–2003 Vegalta Sendai 65 (3)
Total 280 (23)
International career
1994 Japan 1 (0)
Medal record
Yokohama Marinos
Runner-up Japan Soccer League 1991/92
Winner J1 League 1995
Winner Emperor's Cup 1991
Winner Emperor's Cup 1992
Representing  Japan
AFC Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 1992 Japan
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Yamada was educated at and played for Shimizu Commercial High School. At the high school, he won the national high school championship and the national youth championship with his team mates including Hiroshi Nanami, Go Oiwa and Shigeyoshi Mochizuki. Some scouts regarded him as the No. 1 high school player of his age.

After graduating in 1990, he joined Japan Soccer League side Nissan Motors where his powerful dribbling helped him quickly establish himself as a regular. When Japan's first-ever professional league J1 League started in 1992, Nissan Motors was transformed to Yokohama Marinos for whom he continued to play.

He moved to Kyoto Purple Sanga in 1998, and then to Verdy Kawasaki in 1999. He announced the retirement from the game after the 1999 season at the age of 29. However, Hidehiko Shimizu, the manager of J2 League side Vegalta Sendai, who had also managed Yamada at Yokohama Marinos, successfully persuaded him to come out of the retirement and help Sendai to gain the promotion to J1 League. Yamada played for Sendai for 3 years from June 2000 to June 2003 before finally hanging up his boots. He was the leader and the influential player for Sendai who were promoted to J1 League for the 2002 season.

National team career

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Yamada was capped once for the Japan national team when he played in a friendly against Australia on September 27, 1994 at the Tokyo National Stadium.[1] He was a member of the Japan team that won the 1992 Asian Cup but did not play in the tournament.

After retirement

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After retiring from the game, Yamada started his own business, a franchise chain of bakeries specialising in melonpans, in Sendai. After exiting the business, he now runs an Irish pub in downtown Tokyo as of July 2018.[2]

Club statistics

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Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Total
1990/91 Nissan Motors JSL Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1991/92 9 0 1 0 10 0
1992 Yokohama Marinos J1 League - 0 0 9 1 9 1
1993 27 3 3 0 1 1 31 4
1994 32 1 1 0 3 1 36 2
1995 43 7 1 0 - 44 7
1996 23 1 0 0 9 2 32 3
1997 25 6 0 0 5 0 30 6
1998 Kyoto Purple Sanga J1 League 29 1 1 0 0 0 30 1
1999 Verdy Kawasaki J1 League 27 1 3 0 2 0 32 1
2000 Vegalta Sendai J2 League 19 0 1 1 0 0 20 1
2001 28 3 3 0 2 0 33 3
2002 J1 League 18 0 2 0 2 0 22 0
2003 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 280 23 15 1 35 5 330 29

National team statistics

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[1]

Japan national team
Year Apps Goals
1994 1 0
Total 1 0

Honors and awards

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Team honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b Japan National Football Team Database
  2. ^ "元マリノス・山田隆裕氏 メロンパン販売を経てバー経営者に". News Post Seven. June 15, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
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