is a Japanese professional

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 who plays as a right-back for Women's Super League club West Ham United and the Japan national team. Born and raised in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

, Hyogo Prefecture, Shimizu played youth football for

Tokyo Verdy 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. Shimizu moved to West Ham United in 2022. Shimizu made her senior international debut for the Japan national team in 2018 and has since won 56 caps.

Early life and career

Shimizu was born in

, Hyogo Prefecture on June 15, 1996. She began playing football aged seven years old, influenced by her two years older sister. Her family moved to Yokohama, in Kanagawa Prefecture the following year, and she joined local club FC Susukino Ladies. By the time she was ten, Shimizu was a prolific striker for her team in national junior competitions. In 2009, aged 12, she was accepted into Menina, the nation's top youth academy of the club she would later play for,

Tokyo Verdy 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.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 ...

but was gradually converted into a midfielder, and eventually settled on the

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

position which she would specialise. While at the academy, she befriended and rose through the ranks with fellow players such as Yui Hasegawa and

Yuka Momiki is an American-born Japanese Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Linköpings FC and the Japan women's national football team. Club career Momiki joined Nippon TV Beleza from youth team in ...

, all of whom would go on play for the Japan national team together. In addition to football, Shimizu was a talented runner from an early age and earned stellar results in statewide

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

competitions at elementary level. Despite receiving no formal training due to her focus on football, she still won her high school marathon races, beating students who were enrolled in the track and field club.

Club career

Tokyo Verdy Beleza

Having progressed through the youth set-up of

Tokyo Verdy 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.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 ...

against FC Kibi IU Charme. She established herself as the first choice right-back in her first professional season, making 24 appearances in all competitions. She scored her first goal for the club on 15 June 2014, in a match against the same opponents she made her debut with. In the 2015 Nadeshiko League season, Shimizu played in every single league game and was one of the key figures who led the team to win the championship that year, ending a five-year drought for the domestic title. In the years since, she has won multiple trophies with Beleza; including successive domestic titles, the annual Empress's Cup, the League Cup and the

AFC Women's Club Championship The AFC Women's Club Championship is the top-tier women's football club competition in Asia. It involves the top clubs from countries affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Designed as pilot tournaments, the format will change i ...

. One of the most consistent and first-rate performers, Shimizu was first chosen to the Nadeshiko League Best XI in the 2017 season and has since been selected every year, including the first inaugural WE League season after the league was revamped and turned fully professional. In 2020, she was named captain of the club. In August 2022, Shimizu left Tokyo Verdy Beleza after almost a decade with the club

West Ham United

On 28 August 2022, Shimizu signed a two-year contract with English club West Ham United. She made her competitive debut for the club on 19 September 2022 in a 1-0 win over Everton.

International career

Shimizu was first called up to a training camp for the Japan U-14 national team in 2010. The next year, she participated in the

2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship The 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship was the 4th edition of the AFC U-16 Women's Championship. The top 3 teams qualify for the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Venues The host city was Nanjing in Jiangsu, China. The Final round was played o ...

held in Nanjing,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In 2012, she was selected to the Japan U-17 national team for

2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the third edition of the women's football tournament, and was held in Azerbaijan from 22 September to 13 October, following a decision by the executive committee on 19 March 2010. Defending champions Sou ...

, where she scored in a group stage win against Mexico. She received her first senior cap for the Japan national team on 22 October 2017, in a 2–0 win against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in the MS&AD Cup. At the

2018 Algarve Cup The 2018 Algarve Cup was the 25th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 28 February to 7 March 2018. The final was cancelled after torrential rain flooded the pitch: ...

, she played in her first international tournament at senior level, coming on as a substitute against the Netherlands. Shimizu cemented her place as the starting right-back for the national team that same year, starting all the matches in Japan's victorious

2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup The 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament in Asia competed by the women's national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was originally schedul ...

run where they defeated

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

1–0 in the final to win their second consecutive title. This success was followed by a gold medal in the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

, where Japan emerged champions of yet another closely contested final, with a 90th-minute goal at the death to win 1–0 over

. She was selected to Japan's squad for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

in France and the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in her home country. She started all matches and played full games in both tournaments. Shimizu was also part of Japan's squad that won the EAFF East Asian Football Championship in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, and she was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament in the latter, as Japan went undefeated in the competition.

Style of play

Despite her relatively slender frame for a women's footballer, Shimizu is known for her relentless and aggressive defensive capabilities. However, the qualities she has garnered the most praise for are her especially high work-rate and stamina, earning a reputation as a right-back who can make repeated overlapping runs over the course of a full match, contributing as much to attacking plays as she does to defending. This is largely thanks to her experience as a

marathon runner The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road running, road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also w ...

in her youth, having won state-level competitions in Kanagawa when she was at elementary level. Shimizu is also proficient at occupying attacking spaces on the pitch and creating goalscoring opportunities for her teammates. As with many Japanese players that are noted for their technical abilities on the ball, Shimizu often plays a key role in assisting goals from the high degree of accuracy on her early

crosses Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...

and penetrative passes into the penalty box following dribbles down the byline.

Career statistics

Club

International

List of match i
2018
at Japan Football Association

International goals

Honours

Tokyo Verdy Beleza *

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 ...

: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 * Nadeshiko League Cup: 2016, 2018, 2019 * Empress's Cup: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 *

: 2019 Japan U19 * AFC U-19 Women's Championship:

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 ...

Japan *

AFC Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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 ...

* EAFF Women's Football Championship:

Individual *

Best Eleven: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 * WE League Best Eleven:

2021-22 Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

* WE League Outstanding Players Award:

* EAFF Women's Football Championship MVP:

References

External links

* * *
Japan Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimizu, Risa 1996 births Living people Kokushikan University alumni Association football people from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza players West Ham United F.C. Women players Women's Super League players Women's association football defenders Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in football Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Japan