was 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, rugb ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for the Japan national team.

Club career

Matsuda was born in Kiryu on 14 March 1977. After graduating from high school, he joined

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 tim ...

(later ''Yokohama F. Marinos'') in 1995. From first season, he became a regular player and played as right back of three defence with Japan national team players

Masami Ihara is a Japanese former professional football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. A defender, Ihara was captain of the Japan national team for more than a decade in the 1990s, together with striker Kazuyoshi Miura and Brazili ...

and Norio Omura. The club won the champions in 1995 J1 League. In 2000s, he mainly played as centre back with Yuji Nakazawa or

Yuzo Kurihara is a Japanese former football player who last played for Yokohama F. Marinos. He played for Japan national team. Club career Kurihara was born in Yokohama on 18 September 1983. He joined J1 League club Yokohama F. Marinos from youth team in ...

, also played defensive midfielder. The club won the champions 2001 J.League Cup,

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 ...

and 2004 J1 League. Although he played as central player of Marinos in 16 seasons, he was sacked end of 2010 season. Matsuda moved to

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership a ...

club Matsumoto Yamaga FC in 2011. Although he played for qualify for promote to

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Y ...

, in 2 August, he collapsed for

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

during training. On 4 August, he died at the age of 34. His last match against

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 producti ...

on 23 July was his 400th game in the league. At the end of the season, the club won promotion to the J2 League.

International career

In August 1993, Matsuda was selected Japan U-17 national team for 1993 U-17 World Championship. He played full-time in all 4 matches and scored 1 goal. In April 1995, he was also selected Japan U-20 national team for 1995 World Youth Championship and he played full-time in all 4 matches. In July 1996, Matsuda was selected Japan U-23 national team for

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and he played full-time in all 3 matches. Although Japan won 2 matches, Japan lost at First round. At this time, Japan won

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in first game. It was known as "Miracle of Miami" ( マイアミの奇跡) in Japan. On 5 February 2000, Matsuda debuted for Japan national team against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. After the debut, he played many matches as one of three backs defense. In September, he was selected U-23 Japan for

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

2nd time. However he played only 2 matches instead Koji Nakata got injured in the third game. In October 2000, Matsuda was selected Japan for

2000 Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th 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 Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan def ...

. He played 3 matches and Japan won the champions. In 2001, he was also selected Japan for

2001 Confederations Cup The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organised by FIFA. It was also the first in which the original hosts, Saudi Arabia, did not participate (they were the nation who founded the tournament, ...

. He played 4 matches and Japan won the 2nd place. At 2002 World Cup, he played full-time in all 4 matches. After 2002 World Cup, he did not play in many matches. He was selected Japan for

2004 Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champi ...

. Although Japan won the champions, he played only 5 minutes. On 29 January 2005, he played and scored a goal against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Although this goal is his first goal for Japan, this game became his last game for Japan. He played 40 games and scored 1 goal for Japan until 2005.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Death

On 2 August, Matsuda collapsed during training with Matsumoto Yamaga FC due to a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possi ...

after finishing a 15-minute warmup run, and doctors diagnosed his condition as "extremely severe". Two days later, he died at the age of 34. Despite releasing him in 2010, his former club Yokohama F. Marinos retired his squad number 3 after his death, as an indication of his contribution not only to F. Marinos but to Japan football's development, both at league and international levels. The funeral was held on 9 August 2011 and attendees included players who once played for Japan and Yokohama F. Marinos.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Matsuda goal.''

Honours

Yokohama F. Marinos *

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 ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

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 ...

* J.League Cup:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

Japan *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

: Runner-up

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 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Individual *

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only in two occasions there was a full-Japanese Best XI (20 ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

* J.League 20th Anniversary Team

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsuda, Naoki 1977 births 2011 deaths Association football people from Gunma Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan youth international footballers Japan international footballers J1 League players Japan Football League players Yokohama F. Marinos players Matsumoto Yamaga FC players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Olympic footballers of Japan Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Association football defenders Association football players who died while playing Sport deaths in Japan