is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. His son Daiya Maekawa is also footballer.

Club career

Maekawa was educated at and played for Hirado High School. After graduating in 1986, he joined

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...

side

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

. When Japan's first-ever professional league J1 League started in 1993, Mazda was transformed to

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the co ...

for whom he continued to play. In April 1990, he had a trial at Manchester United. He had been the first-choice GK for the club since 1989 although he was prone to injuries. He decided to have an operation on his shoulder in 1998 and his place was filled in by Takashi Shimoda who kept the place after Maekawa came back. Maekawa was transferred to J2 League side

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Saiki, and the entire Ōi ...

in 2000 before retiring from the game after the 2001 season.

National team career

Maekawa was capped 17 times for the Japanese national team from 1992 to 1996.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> His first cap came on June 7, 1992 in a friendly against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Ehime Matsuyama Athletic Stadium a.k.a. ''Ehime Matsuyama Athletic Stadium'' or ''Ehime Prefectural Sports Park Stadium'' (愛媛県総合運動公園陸上競技場) is a multi-use stadium in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan, home of Ehime FC. It is a stadium with four concrete stand ...

. He was a member of the Japan team that won the 1992 Asian Cup. He played 2 games after first-choice keeper

Shigetatsu Matsunaga is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Matsunaga was educated at and played for Hamana High School and Aichi Gakuin University. After graduating from the university, he joined Nissan Motors (later ...

was shown a red card in the semi-final against China.

Coaching career

After finishing his playing career, he remained at

and worked in the areas of marketing, operations and developments until 2005. He is now a coach at Sanfrecce Tsuneishi Soccer School, one of the affiliated soccer schools of

Club statistics

National team statistics

Honors

International

Japan * AFC Asian Cup (1): 1992 1992 Asian Cup (champions)

References

External links

*
Japan National Football Team Database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maekawa, Kazuya 1968 births Living people Association football people from Nagasaki Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan international footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players J2 League players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Oita Trinita players 1992 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Association football goalkeepers