is a 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 the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. She is currently playing as a defender for

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina is a women's football (soccer), football club playing in Japan's football league, WE League. Its hometown is the city of Hiroshima. Kits Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors Club staff Player Current squad S ...

in 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 the

Japan women's national football team 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 ...

, winning a

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 ...

and an Olympic silver medal before her international retirement in 2016.

Club career

In Japan until 2013

Kinga was born in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

on 2 May 1984. After graduating from high school, she joined

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 1981.2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, she was given the

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 ...

's Best Young Player award. During her time at Nippon TV Beleza, the club won the

championship 5 times. In 2011, she moved to

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe is a Japanese football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian. In 2006 INAC Leonessa was promoted to the Nadeshiko.League, where it has played since 2020. ...

with international players

Homare Sawa is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or a midfielder. Regarded by many as one of the greatest female footballers of all time and the greatest Asian female footballer of all time, Sawa had a professional club care ...

Shinobu Ohno is a Japanese Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara. She formerly played for the Japan women's national football team. Club career Ohno was born in Zama, Ka ...

and

Chiaki Minamiyama is a Japanese football player. She played for Japan national team. Club career Minamiyama was born in Ichikawa on October 16, 1985. In 2003, she joined Nippon TV Beleza from youth team and played until 2010. In 2011, she moved to INAC Kobe Leo ...

due to financial strain at the club. At

, the club won the

championship for 3 years in a row (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

–

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

). She was selected to the league's Best XI for 6 years in a row (

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 ...

–

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 ...

). In January 2014, INAC's general manager revealed that Kinga had agreed to join English

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

club

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arse ...

and in February she officially signed the contract. At Arsenal, Kinga helped propel the club to reach the final of the

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 ...

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

which they won in a 2–0 margin over Everton. She re-signed with INAC Kobe in early 2015. In 2016, she began playing in the Australian W-League for

Canberra United Canberra United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the southern Canberra suburb of Wanniassa, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 2008 by Capital Football, the club was an inaugural member of the W-League and t ...

. In October 2017, Kinga joined defending W-League champions Melbourne City. In February 2019, she returned to Japan and joined

Orca Kamogawa FC is a women's football club playing in Japan's football league, the Nadeshiko League Division 1. Its hometown is the city of Kamogawa. Current squad Results References External links official site* Japanes ...

. In October 2019, Kinga re-signed with Melbourne City. In February 2020, it was announced that Kinga would re-sign with Orca Kamogawa at the end of the 2019–20 W-League season.

National team career

In August 2002, Kinga was selected by the Japan U-20 women's national team for the

2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship The 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship was held from 17 August to 1 September. It was the first sanctioned youth tournament for women put together by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada. FIFA granted the tournament to Canada in March ...

. On 29 March 2005, she debuted for the Japan women's national team against

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 ...

.Japan Football Association
/ref> She was playing as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

and right-winger until 2007, when she was converted to rightback by manager Hiroshi Ohashi. After she converted her position, she became a regular player in the Japan national team. Japan won the 2011 World Cup in which Kinga played in the final, came second in the 2015 World Cup and earned a silver medal in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She played 100 games and scored 5 goals for Japan until her retirement in 2016.

Club statistics

National team statistics

List of match i
2010
at Japan Football Association

Honors

International career

;Japan *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

: ''Silver Medal'':

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

: ''Champion'':

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 ...

: ''Gold Medal'':

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* East Asian Football Championship: ''Champions'':

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Club

;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 ...

:''Champion (5)'':

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 ...

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 ...

;INAC Kobe *

:''Champion (3)'':

;Nippon TV Beleza *

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 ...

: ''Champion (5)'':

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 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

;INAC Kobe *

: ''Champion (3)'':

;Nippon TV Beleza *

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 ...

: ''Champion (2)'':

;INAC Kobe *

: ''Champion (1)'':

;Arsenal *

Individual

: ''Best 11 (6)'':

: ''Best Young Player'':

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

: ''MVP'':

References

External links

* * * *
Japan Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinga, Yukari 1984 births Living people Nippon Sport Science University alumni Association football people from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players Women's Super League players A-League Women players Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza players INAC Kobe Leonessa players Arsenal W.F.C. players Canberra United FC players Melbourne City FC (A-League Women) players Orca Kamogawa FC players Japanese expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in England Japanese expatriate sportspeople in England 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 Olympic silver medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games FIFA Century Club Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Sportspeople from Yokohama Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina players Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Expatriate women's association footballers in New Zealand Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Australia Japanese expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand