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 ...

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 ...

. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Fukunishi was born in Niihama on September 1, 1976. After graduating from high school, he joined Júbilo Iwata in 1995. He played as defensive midfielder with

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifte ...

in 1990s. After that, he became a central player in golden era in club history. The club won the champions at

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

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 shoot ...

and 2002 J1 League. The club also

1998 J.League Cup Statistics of J. League Cup, officially the '1998 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, in the 1998 season. Overview It was contested by 20 teams, and Jubilo Iwata won the cup. Results Group A Group B Group C Group D Semifinals * Shimizu S-Puls ...

and

2003 Emperor's Cup The 83rd Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 2003 season. Overview It was contested by 80 teams, and Júbilo Iwata won the cup for the first time. Results 1st Round * Hannan University 2–0 Wakayama Kihoku Shukyudan *Funabashi Mu ...

. In Asia, the club won the champions

1998–99 Asian Club Championship The 1998–99 Asian Club Championship was the 18th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the Asian Football Confederation, AFC region (Asia). It determined that year's club champion of football (soccer), associati ...

and the 2nd place 1999–00 and

2000–01 Asian Club Championship The 2000–01 Asian Club Championship was the 20th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the AFC region (Asia). It determined that year's club champion of association football in Asia. Suwon Samsung Bluewings of ...

. After that, he played FC Tokyo (2007) and

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 ...

(2008).

International career

In June 1999, Fukunishi was selected Japan national team for 1999 Copa América. At this competition, on June 29, he debuted against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. Although there were few his opportunity to play, he was selected Japan for

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

and played five minutes as a substitute against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. After the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he became a regular player from 2004. At

2000 AFC 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 all six matches and scored two goals including first goal in

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. He also played at 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

. He played 64 games and scored 7 goals for Japan until 2006.Japan National Football Team Database
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Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honors

Júbilo Iwata * AFC Champions League:

Asian Super Cup The Asian Super Cup was an annual football competition between the winners of the Asian Club Championship and the Asian Cup Winners' Cup. The competition started in 1995, but came to an end in 2002 after both major AFC tournaments were merged int ...

* J1 League:

, 2002 *

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 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

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 ...

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 ...

, 2003, 2004 Japan * AFC Asian Cup: 2004 Individua * J1 League Best Eleven: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* 1976 births Living people Association football people from Ehime Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Júbilo Iwata players FC Tokyo players Tokyo Verdy players 1999 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Association football midfielders People from Niihama, Ehime {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub