Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi - Biography

Biography

Born in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Kawaguchi studied at Shimizu Commercial High School and was a member of the football team there. After finishing high school, he joined the professional football team Yokohama Marinos (now known as Yokohama F. Marinos). He was called up to the Japanese national team and played in the Atlanta Olympic games. He kept a clean sheet against Brazil in the first game. He played in Japan's first ever World Cup game in 1998 in a 1-0 defeat to Argentina.

Following impressive performances for both club and country, he moved to English club Portsmouth, signing for a club record £1.8m. However, he struggled to adapt to life in the English Football League, and struggled with the physical side of the First Division, notably in a 3-1 away defeat to Grimsby Town. Kawaguchi lost his place to veteran Dave Beasant after being held responsible for Portsmouth's 4-1 home defeat to underdogs Leyton Orient in the FA Cup. Despite his poor performances for Pompey he remained something of a cult hero with the fans, on account of his cheerful demeanour, and his insistence that he would work hard to regain his place. After a season of playing reserve team football, he made his final appearance for Portsmouth in the final game of the 2002/3 Football League First Division championship winning season, coming on at half time to a standing ovation in the 5-0 win against Bradford City. Despite this brief reappearance, he realised that his future lay elsewhere, and moved on to Nordsjælland of the Danish league. Prior to the 2005 Japanese football season, Kawaguchi returned to his home country when he signed with then-perennial title-contenders Júbilo Iwata.

Kawaguchi is a renowned penalty stopper, making two saves in the shootout against Jordan in the 2004 Asian Cup quarter final and also saving from Croatia's Darijo Srna in the 2006 World Cup. During the 2007 Asian Cup he was instrumental in Japan's quarter-final win against Australia making two saves from Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill in the penalty shootout, thus making him the Man of the Match.

In August 2006, it was revealed that he would wear the captain's armband, as new Japan manager Ivica Osim believed that former captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto was not getting enough playing time at his domestic club, Gamba Osaka. Kawaguchi is his country's most-capped goalkeeper and overall second most-capped player with 116 caps for Japan, 6 behind Masami Ihara with 122 caps, but an injury had since sidelined him from action. Long-time rival Seigo Narazaki had since been playing as first-choice keeper for Japan.

A broken leg sustained in a J-League clash against Kyoto Sanga appeared to have sidelined him for the rest of the season thus ruling him out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, after making a full and quick recovery Japanese head coach Takeshi Okada decided to include him in the final squad announced on May 10, 2010. Kawaguchi was one of two Japanese players (the other being Seigo Narazaki) to be named for their national team's 4th consecutive FIFA World Cup. Despite his period of inactivity and having fallen to third in the pecking order, Okada selected him in the hope that his leadership and experience would aid the team's progress. Kawaguchi was appointed captain of the national team during team training on 21 May 2010.

Kawaguchi has not yet been picked to play for the national team under coach Alberto Zaccheroni, and with youngster Eiji Kawashima impressing in Japan's 2011 Asian Cup success, it looks as though the Yokohama-born custodian's international career may be over.