is a former

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. She spent her entire professional career playing for clubs in the

Nadeshiko League The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football Sports league, league in Japan. The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese association football ...

, and was a former international with the

Japan women's national football team Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Club career

Niwata was born in

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

on September 12, 1984. In 2000, she was promoted to Speranza FC Takatsuki from youth team. In 2007, she moved to

Urawa Reds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

. She retired end of 2012 season. She played 96 matches in

L.League The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football league in Japan. The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese women's football pyramid respective ...

and she was selected Best Eleven 2 times (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

National team career

In August 2002, Niwata was selected Japan U-20 national team for 2002 U-19 World Championship.FIFA
/ref> On March 19, 2003, she debuted for Japan national team against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

.Japan Football Association
/ref>

National team statistics

References

External links

*
Urawa Reds
1984 births Living people Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players Speranza Osaka-Takatsuki players Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies players Women's association football midfielders {{Japan-women-footy-bio-stub