is a Japanese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He made 17 appearances for the Japan national team scoring three goals.

Club career

Ozaki was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

on March 7, 1960. After graduating from high school, he joined

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.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 ...

JSL Cup was the original league cup for clubs in the top levels of Japanese soccer before the creation of the J. League and its cup. The cup was first played in 1973, but did not become an annual tournament until 1976. The JSL/JFL Cup included clubs fr ...

and

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

. The club also won

1980 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1980 season. Overview It was contested by 30 teams, and Mitsubishi Motors won the championship. Results 1st round *Kyushu Sangyo University 2–3 Teijin *Fujitsu 2–2 (PK 8–9) Osaka University of Economics ...

1981 JSL Cup Statistics of JSL Cup in the 1981 season. Overview It was contested by 20 teams, and Toshiba and Mitsubishi Motors won the championship. Results 1st Round *Honda 3-0 Tanabe Pharmaceuticals *Toshiba 2-1 Sumitomo Metals * Yomiuri 1-2 Nippon Kok ...

and 1982 Japan Soccer League. He was also selected Japanese Footballer of the Year awards in 1982. In July 1983, Ozaki moved to Germany and joined

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

. He was the second Japanese to play in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

after

Yasuhiko Okudera is a Japanese former football player and manager. He is the president of J2 League club Yokohama FC and was formerly the president of English club Plymouth Argyle. Okudera was the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe, as we ...

. In 1985, Arminia Bielefeld was relegated to 2. Bundesliga. From 1988, he played at

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

(1988–89) and

TuRU Düsseldorf Turu may refer to: * Turu people, an ethnic and linguistic group in Tanzania who speak the bantu language Kinyaturu * Turu language or Nyaturu language, a Bantu language ;Given name and surname * Turu Flores or José Oscar Flores (born 1971), Arg ...

(1989–90). In 1990, Ozaki returned to Japan and joined Mitsubishi Motors (later ''Urawa Reds''). He moved to

Verdy Kawasaki is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of football in the country. Founded as Yomiuri F.C. in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, wit ...

in 1993. He retired in 1994.

International career

In August 1979, Ozaki was selected Japan U-20 national team for 1979 World Youth Championship. He played in three matches as captain. On February 8, 1981, he debuted for Japan national team against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. He played at 1982 Asian Games. He played 17 games and scored 3 goals for Japan until 1983.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> After he moved to Germany in 1983, he was not selected Japan.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* *

* * * 1960 births Living people Association football people from Tokyo Japanese footballers Association football forwards Japan youth international footballers Japan international footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Urawa Red Diamonds players Arminia Bielefeld players FC St. Pauli players TuRU Düsseldorf players Tokyo Verdy players Footballers at the 1982 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Japan Japanese expatriate footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany {{Japan-footy-forward-stub