is a former

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 ...

ese

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. He played for Japan national team. He is currently working on television as a football commentator.

Club career

When Kitazawa was a junior high student, he played for Yomiuri Junior Youth. After being rejected by the club to advance to the club's Youth team, he entered Shutoku High School and played for the school club. After graduating, he joined

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 ...

side

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

in 1987. He was the top scorer of the league in the 1990–91 season. He moved to Yomiuri (later Verdy Kawasaki, now

Tokyo Verdy 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, with ...

) in 1991. Kitazawa, together with his teammates

Kazuyoshi Miura , often known simply as Kazu (nicknamed "King Kazu"), is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC. He played for the Japan national team from 1990 t ...

Ruy Ramos is a former football player and manager, originally from Brazil, who spent his career in Japan and played for the Japan national team. Ramos is currently active as a television personality and ''tarento'', represented with Irving. Club car ...

Nobuhiro Takeda is a Japanese former football player. He played for Japan national team. He was a forward and known as an opportunistic goal-scorer, making most of his quick thinking and canny positioning. He currently works at Nippon Television and belongs ...

Tetsuji Hashiratani is a former 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 t ...

and Bismarck made in the early 1990s the golden era of Verdy who won the

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

championship (

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

) and

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of Y ...

(

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, and

). He finished his playing career as a Verdy player in 2002.

National team career

Kitazawa was capped 58 times and scored 3 goals for the Japanese national team between 1991 and 1999. He made his international debut on 2 June 1991 in a friendly against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Yamagata Park Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tendo, Yamagata, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' n ...

, under national coach

Kenzo Yokoyama is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for, and then managed, the Japanese national team. Club career Yokoyama was born in Saitama on January 21, 1943. After graduating from Kawaguchi High School and Rikkyo University, he ...

. He was a member of the Japan team for the

1992 Asian Cup The 1992 AFC Asian Cup was the 10th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan between 29 Octob ...

that Japan won. He scored his first international goal on 6 November 1992 in the semifinal against

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 ...

Hiroshima Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Hiroshima, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') i ...

. He took part in Japan's unsuccessful campaign to qualify for the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

. He was a member of the Asian final qualification stage that was held centrally in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

and played two games. He was on the bench when the Iraqi's injury-time equaliser dashed Japan's qualification hope in the last qualifier, in the match that the Japanese fans now remember as the

Agony of Doha In the final round of matches of the final round of Asian qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Japan and Iraq drew 2–2 in Doha, Qatar. If Japan had won the match, they would have qualified for the World Cup for the first time. Instead, J ...

. Kitazawa was short-listed for the 1998 World Cup, but national coach

Takeshi Okada is a Japanese former football player and manager. He played for and managed the Japan national team. Club career Okada was born in Osaka on August 25, 1956. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined Japan Soccer League (JSL) club Fur ...

dropped him along with

and

Daisuke Ichikawa is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for the Japan national team. Club career Ichikawa is a product of Shimizu S-Pulses youth system. He played as right side-back and right midfielder. He made his J1 ...

at the final training camp in

Nyon Nyon (; outdated German language, German: or ; outdated Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilomet ...

, Switzerland.

Futsal career

Kitazawa represented

Japan national futsal team The represents Japan in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. It is one of the strongest futsal teams in Asia, the champions in the 2006, 2012, 2014 and 2022 AFC Futsal Asian Cup. Japan has also pl ...

in the 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship finals hosted by the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Career statistics

Club

National team

Honours

Japan national team *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

References

External links

* *
Tsuyoshi Kitazawa
at Japan National Football Team Database * 1968 births Living people Association football people from Tokyo Japanese footballers Japan international footballers Japanese men's futsal players Japan Soccer League players J1 League players Honda FC players Tokyo Verdy players 1992 AFC Asian Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Association football midfielders Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Japan {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub