is a Japanese 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 plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Tokyo Verdy Beleza of 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 previously played for

Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

and Montpellier. A former Japanese international, Utsugi helped the team win the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Club career

Utsugi was born in Kawasaki on 5 December 1988. She began her professional career at

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.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 ...

titles and five

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 ...

s. In August 2010, after six years at Beleza, Utsugi departed her home country to sign for French club Montpellier of the Division 1 Féminine. After joining the club, she became the first Japanese player to play in the league.

International career

A left-footed

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

, Utsugi has represented Japan at the 2007, 2011, and 2015 editions of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, as well as two Asian Cup competitions. Japan won the 2011 World Cup. She was named in the World Cup 2015 All-Star squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

Japan Football Association
/ref>List of match i

at Japan Football Association :''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Utsugi goal''.

Honours

Nippon TV Beleza *

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 ...

: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 *

: 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 *

Nadeshiko League Cup The Nadeshiko League Cup (Japanese: なでしこリーグカップ) is a cup competition for women's football clubs in Japan. The competition began as the L.League Cup in 1996 and it was abolished after the 1999 edition. It reappeared on the occ ...

: 2007, 2010 Japan * FIFA Women's World Cup: 2011; runners-up 2015 * AFC U-17 Women's Championship: 2005

References

External links

* * * *
UTSUGI Rumi, Players' Information
– Japan Football Association * *
Profile
at

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current ...

Player French football stats
at footofeminin.fr * {{DEFAULTSORT:Utsugi, Rumi 1988 births Living people Association football people from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players National Women's Soccer League players Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza players Montpellier HSC (women) players OL Reign players Japanese expatriate footballers Expatriate women's footballers in France Japanese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States 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 Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Women's association football midfielders FIFA Century Club Division 1 Féminine players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players