is a Japanese

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 plays for

Omiya Ardija Ventus is a Japanese women's association football team which plays in WE League. and become the women's section of J. League club Omiya Ardija. History The team started in 1996 as an old girls' club for students of Jumonji Middle School in Toshima Wa ...

in the

WE League The , officially the , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top flight of women's association football in Japan, starting from the 2021–22 season. It is the first fully-professional women's soccer league in Japan. History On 3 J ...

. She also plays for the Japan national team.

Club career

Sakaguchi was born in

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and incl ...

on October 15, 1987. In 2003, at the age of 15, she debuted in the

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 ...

at Speranza FC Takatsuki. After graduating from high school, she joined

Tasaki Perule FC was a women's football team which played in Division 1 of Japan's Nadeshiko League. It founded the league back in 1976. The club was disbanded in 2008. Honors Domestic competitions * Nadeshiko.League Division 1 **Champions (1) : 2003 **Runne ...

in 2006. She was selected Best Eleven in 2007. However, the club was disbanded in 2008 due to financial strain. She went to the United States and joined

USL W-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

club

FC Indiana F.C. Indiana, also known as F.C. Indiana Lionesses, is an American women's soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2003, the team is currently a member of the United Women's Soccer league. They play their home games at Newton Park ...

in 2009. In 2010, she returned to Japan and joined

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the fir ...

. She was selected Best Eleven in 2011. In 2012, she moved to

Nippon TV Beleza is a women's football team which plays in Japan's WE League. History The club was founded as named ''Yomiuri SC Ladies Beleza'' as women's club of Yomiuri SC (currently ''Tokyo Verdy'') by Yomiuri Shimbun in 1981.2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

). She was also selected Best Eleven for 5 years in a row (

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

National team career

In July 2006, Sakaguchi was selected to be on the Japan national team for the 2006 Asian Cup. At this competition, on July 19, she debuted and scored 2 goals against

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

.Japan Football Association
/ref> She played in the 2011 World Cup where Japan won the championship; Sakaguchi scored one of the penalties in the shootout against United States in the final. She also played in the 2015 World Cup where Japan came second.Mizuho Sakaguchi
FIFA She was also part of the silver medal-winning 2012 Summer Olympic team. From June 2016, she was given the number 10 shirt for Japan by new manager

Asako Takakura , also known as Asako Takakura-Takemoto or Asako Takemoto due to her marriage, is a Japanese football manager and former player. She played for Japan national team. She is a former manager of the Japan national team. Her husband is former footb ...

. She played 124 games and scored 29 goals for Japan until 2018.

Club statistics

National team statistics

List of match i
2010

at Japan Football Association

Honors

; Teams *

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

: ''Champion'':

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: ''Runner-up:''

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

: ''Gold Medal'':

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 ...

: ''Silver Medal'' 2006 *

EAFF Women's Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship is an international football competition in East Asia for national teams of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF). The competition between women's national teams is held alongside men's competition. History ...

: ''Champion'':

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Empress's Cup , since 2018 renamed "Empress's Cup JFA Japan Women's Football Championship" ( ja, 皇后杯 JFA 全日本女子サッカー選手権大会) or The Empress's Cup, is a Japanese Women's football competition. As an elimination tournament, it can be ...

: ''Champion'': 2007 ; Individual *

: ''Best Eleven'': 2007, 2011, 2013

References

External links

* * * *
Japan Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakaguchi, Mizuho 1987 births Living people Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Speranza Osaka-Takatsuki players Tasaki Perule FC players Albirex Niigata Ladies players Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza players Japanese expatriate footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the United States FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Olympic footballers of Japan Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in football Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games FIFA Century Club Women's association football midfielders People from Sakai, Osaka F.C. Indiana players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Nadeshiko League MVPs