is a Japanese 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

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 ...

. He made four appearances for the Japan national team scoring once.

Club career

Nagai played his youth football at

Mitsubishi Yowa commonly referred to as simply Mitsubishi Yowa or Yowa-kai is a Japanese multisports club based in Sugamo, Tokyo. It is most notable for its Association football, football section, also known as Mitsubishi Yowa S.C.. The youth football team is fa ...

Club. After graduating from high school in 1997, he joined

Urawa Reds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

. He made his professional debut on 12 April of that year in the opening league match against

Yokohama Marinos is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Having won the J-League title four times and ...

Urawa Komaba Stadium The is an athletic stadium in Urawa-ku, Saitama, Japan. It accommodates 21,500 spectators. It was formerly known as Saitama Urawa Komaba Stadium (さいたま市駒場スタジアム). Since May 2012, it has been called Urawa Komaba Stadium. U ...

. Nagai was loaned out to German 2. Bundesliga side

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the D ...

from 1998 to 1999. He played 21 league games and scored 4 goals for

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. In 2003, Nagai took over the number "9" jersey from iconic

Masahiro Fukuda is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. He was a forward but sometimes played in the midfield. Club career After studying at and playing for Sagami Institute of Technology High School and Chuo University, Fuk ...

after the latter retired from the game. He scored a hat trick against

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 ...

on 21 August 2004. In the same match, his teammate

Koji Yamase is a Japanese football player who plays for Renofa Yamaguchi FC. His father Isao Yamase participated in the 1984 Winter Olympics as a biathlete. His brother Yukihiro Yamase is also footballer. Club career Yamase was born in Sapporo on 22 Sept ...

also scored three goals. On 1 January 2007, he was instrumental in Urawa defending the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

by scoring a late winner assisted by

Masayuki Okano is a Japanese former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder or forward (association football), forward. He played for the Japan national football team, Japan national team. Club career Okano was born in Yokoham ...

. The club won the champions 2006 J1 League, 2003 J.League Cup,

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 ...

and

2006 Emperor's Cup The 86th Emperor's Cup had been held between September 17, 2006 and January 1, 2007. The previous season's winners Urawa Red Diamonds defended the Cup and completed the league-cup double. Schedule Matches First Round Second Round Third Roun ...

until 2006. In 2007,

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

, Nagai helped Urawa win the tournament scoring 3 goals. He was named the player of the tournament. Urawa also won the 3rd place at 2007 FIFA Club World Cup. On 7 January 2009, Nagai transferred to

Shimizu S-Pulse is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which began ...

. He played until 2011. After that, he played for

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the first tier of football in the country. The club was formed by fans of Yokoh ...

(2012–13),

Arterivo Wakayama is a football (soccer) club based in Wakayama, the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. They play in the Kansai Soccer League, which is part of Japanese Regional Leagues. The name Arterivo comes from the combination of two Italian word ...

(2014) and

Thespakusatsu Gunma is a professional football (soccer) club based in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture in Japan. The club plays in the J2 League, the second division of professional football in Japan. History The club was founded in 1995 in Kusatsu, one of the most we ...

(2015–17).

International career

Nagai was a member of the Japan team for the 1997 World Youth Championship hosted by

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. He played all 5 matches and scored a goal against Costa Rica at the group stage. The team was eliminated at the quarterfinal. He also represented Japan at the 1999 World Youth Championship hosted by

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He played all 7 matches and scored a goal in the semi-final against Uruguay and contributed to the team finishing runners-up in the competition. He made his full international debut for

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 ...

on 21 April 2003 in a friendly against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Seoul World Cup Stadium The Seoul World Cup Stadium (), also known as Sangam Stadium, is a stadium used mostly for association football matches. The venue is located in 240, World Cup-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It was built for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and opene ...

. His first international goal was the winner in the same match. He also played at

2003 Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vi ...

. He is so far capped 4 times and scored 1 goal.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Career statistics

Club

:Source:Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社
"J1&J2選手名鑑 2013 (NSK MOOK)"
14 February 2013, Japan, (p. 185 out of 266)

FIFA Club World Cup

International

:Source:

International goals

Appearances in major competitions

Honors and awards

Individual

Player of the Tournament:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Team

Winner:

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 ...

Winner:

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 ...

Winner:

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 ...

Winner:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Japanese Super Cup The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J. League and the Japan Football Association (JFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the r ...

Winner:

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

Runner-up:

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 ...

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
*
Profile at Thespakusatsu Gunma
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Yuichiro 1979 births Living people Association football people from Tokyo Japanese footballers Japan youth international footballers Japan international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Urawa Red Diamonds players Karlsruher SC II players Shimizu S-Pulse players Yokohama FC players Arterivo Wakayama players Thespakusatsu Gunma players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Japanese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Association football forwards