Stefan Daisuke Ishizaki ( ja, ステファン大輔石崎; born 15 May 1982) is a Swedish 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 le ...

who played 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 ...

. Starting off his career with

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

in the late 1990s, he went on to represent

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

, and

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

before retiring at

Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spe ...

in 2019. A full international between 2001 and 2012, he won 13

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for the Sweden national team.

Club career

AIK

Born to a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

mother and a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

father, he started his career with

Rågsveds IF Rågsveds IF is a Swedish football club located in Hagsätra. Background Rågsveds IF will start 2015 playing in Division 4 Stockholm Södra which is the sixth tier of Swedish football. Woman squad will start playing in Division 3 which is fifth ...

and stayed with the club until 1999 when he signed a contract with major Swedish club

. He made his debut for the club in the same year in

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

as he came on as a substitute in the 80th minute against

Gefle IF Gefle Idrottsförening, also known simply as Gefle IF, Gefle (, as if spelled ''Gävle''), or locally Gif (), are a Swedish professional football club based in Gävle. The club is affiliated with Gestriklands Fotbollförbund and play their home ...

, he later came on as a substitute again in the final, which AIK won 1–0 against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

, making him the youngest in the country to win the Cup, being only 16 years and 364 days old. His league debut was not until the 2000 season against his future club

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

. He quickly established himself as a starting lineup player and really broke through as a player against

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superet ...

, a 4–1 victory, scoring a goal and making 2 assists. He missed out the first game of the 2001 season due to an injury he got during the pre-season, which would continue to haunt him for the rest of the season, but he fully recovered for the 2002 season. Prior to the 2004 season he was loaned out to Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

club

over the spring part of the season, later when AIK was relegated to

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

he signed with Norwegian club

Genoa

During the winterbreak of the 2003–04 season

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as Genoa (), is a professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, that competes in , the second division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

loaned Ishizaki until the end of the season. Ishizaki did not play many games for the club before returning to AIK. Genoa also had an option to buy the player, but it was never used.

Vålerenga

Instead of following AIK down into Superettan, Ishizaki decided to sign with Norwegian club

, helping the club to break rival

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12 Norwegian Football Cup ti ...

13 straight league wins and bringing the title back to the club for the first time since 1984. He then left the club, signing for Allsvenska club IF Elfsborg.

Elfsborg

Stefan Ishizaki returned to Sweden prior to the 2006 season, signing for

. Being a major signing for the coming season, he helped the club to claim the league title at the end of the season. After his successful first season he remained with Elfsborg, taking a medal every season, gold (1st) in 2006, bronze (4th) in 2007, the Stora Silvret (2nd) in 2008, Lilla Silvret in 2009 (3rd) and bronze (4th) in 2010. Prior to the 2010 season he signed a new 5-year contract with the club.

LA Galaxy

Stefan Ishizaki vs Seattle Sounders 2014 cropped

Stefan Ishizaki signed with the

in Major League Soccer before camps opened in January for the 2014 season. While at the Galaxy, he won the 2014 MLS Cup where he was a starter in the final. Ishizaki was released by the club on 4 July 2015 so he could return to Sweden to finish his career to be with his expectant wife.

Return to AIK

On 10 July 2015, it was confirmed that Ishizaki signed a 2.5 year deal with

. After the

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 ...

AIK season, Ishizaki left AIK upon the expiration of his contract.

Return to Elfsborg and retirement

Ishizaki signed for Elfsborg on a free transfer ahead of the

2018 Allsvenskan The 2018 Allsvenskan, part of the 2018 Swedish football season, was the 94th season of Allsvenskan since its establishment in 1924. A total of 16 teams participated. As the 2018 FIFA World Cup will start on 14 June, the last round before stoppag ...

season. At the end of the

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 ...

season, Ishizaki announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Born to a Japanese father and a Swedish mother, Ishizaki was eligible to play internationally for both

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

as well as

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In the early 2000s, Ishizaki turned down an offer to represent the Japanese national team. He represented Sweden at the U17, U19, and U21 levels, and was a squad player for the Sweden U21 team at the

2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 14th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Germany between 27 May and 8 June 2004. Italy U-21s won the competition for the fifth time. Italy's Al ...

. Sweden was eliminated by the Serbia and Montenegro U21 team in the semifinals after penalty kicks despite Ishizaki successfully converting his penalty kick. On the senior level Ishizaki won 13

for the Sweden national team between 2001 and 2012 but never featured in a major tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

AIK *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Vålerenga *

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

IF Elfsborg *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

LA Galaxy *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Western Conference:

References

External links

IF Elfsborg profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishizaki, Stefan 1982 births Living people Footballers from Stockholm Swedish people of Japanese descent Swedish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Sweden men's international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Allsvenskan players AIK Fotboll players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Serie B players Genoa CFC players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Eliteserien players Vålerenga Fotball players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Norway IF Elfsborg players LA Galaxy players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer players