Akinori Nishizawa
西澤 明訓

Personal information
Date of birth	(1976-06-18) 18 June 1976
Place of birth	Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1992–1994	Shimizu Higashi High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–2000	Cerezo Osaka	124	(43)
1995–1996	→Volendam (loan)	0	(0)
2000–2001	Espanyol	6	(0)
2001	Cerezo Osaka	0	(0)
2001–2002	Bolton Wanderers	0	(0)
2002–2006	Cerezo Osaka	148	(41)
2007–2008	Shimizu S-Pulse	43	(5)
2009	Cerezo Osaka	18	(1)
Total		339	(90)
International career
1997–2002	Japan	29	(10)
Medal record Cerezo Osaka Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2001 Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2003 Shimizu S-Pulse Runner-up J.League Cup 2008 Representing  Japan FIFA Confederations Cup 2001 Korea-Japan AFC Asian Cup 2000 Lebanon
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Akinori Nishizawa (西澤 明訓, Nishizawa Akinori, born 18 June 1976) is a Japanese former footballer who played as a forward. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Nishizawa was born in Shizuoka on 18 June 1976. After graduating from Shimizu Higashi High School, he joined Cerezo Osaka in 1995. He moved to Spanish club Espanyol in December 2000. In July 2001, he moved to English club Bolton Wanderers. During his brief spell playing Bolton Wanderers, he is best remembered for scoring a dramatic late equaliser against Walsall in the League Cup.^[1] In 2002, he returned to Cerezo Osaka was relegated to J2 League from 2002. The club won the 2nd place in 2002 and was promoted to J1 League. In 2006, the club was relegated to J2 League. He moved to his local club Shimizu S-Pulse in 2007. He returned to Cerezo Osaka in 2009 and he retired end of 2009 season.

International career

On 21 May 1997, Nishizawa debuted for Japan national team against South Korea. Although he played four games and scored two goals at 1998 World Cup qualification in 1997, he was not selected Japan for 1998 World Cup. In 2000, he played for Japan for the first time in three years. At 2000 Asian Cup in October, he played all six games and scored five goals. Japan won the champions. At 2001 Confederations Cup, he also played four games and scored one goal. Japan achieved second place. He was selected Japan for 2002 World Cup and played one game. This match was his last game for Japan. He played 29 games and scored 10 goals for Japan until 2002.^[2]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[2]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	1997	5	2
	1998	0	0
	1999	0	0
	2000	11	6
	2001	8	1
	2002	5	1
Total		29	10

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

List of international goals scored by Akinori Nishizawa

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	1997
2	1997
3	5 June 2000	Casablanca, Morocco	France		2–2	Friendly
4	17 October 2000	Sidon, Lebanon	Uzbekistan		8–1	2000 AFC Asian Cup
5
6
7	20 October 2000	Beirut, Lebanon	Qatar		1–1	2000 AFC Asian Cup
8	26 October 2000	Beirut, Lebanon	China		3–2	2000 AFC Asian Cup
9	22 June 2006	Niigata, Japan	Canada		3–0	2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
10	29 April 2002	Tokyo, Japan	Slovakia		1–0	2002 Kirin Cup

Honours

Japan

• FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up: 2001
• AFC Asian Cup: 2000

Individual

• J1 League Best Eleven: 2000

References

External links

• Akinori Nishizawa at Soccerbase
• Akinori Nishizawa – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Akinori Nishizawa at National-Football-Teams.com
• Japan National Football Team Database
• Akinori Nishizawa at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)