Arata Izumi

Arata Izumi
Personal information
Date of birth (1982-07-31) 31 July 1982
Place of birth Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
FC Pune City
Number -
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005 Albirex Niigata Singapore 22 (3)
2006 Mitsubishi Mizushima 24 (4)
2006–2007 East Bengal 14 (1)
2007–2009 Mahindra United 84 (20)
2009–2015 Pune 129 (25)
2015–2016 Atlético Kolkata 11 (5)
2016–Mumbai (loan) 13 (1)
2016– FC Pune City 0 (0)
National team
2013– India 9 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:33, 2 June 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:18, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Arata Izumi (和泉 新 Izumi Arata, born 31 July 1982) is a Japanese-born Indian footballer who plays for FC Pune City as a midfielder in the Indian Super League.

Career

Albirex Niigata Singapore

In 2005 Izumi started his professional football career with Albirex Niigata Singapore of the S.League.[1] Albirex Niigata Singapore was an affiliate of Albirex Niigata of the J.League.[2] Arata grew a reputation for his speed while in the S.League.[1] He scored his first professional goal of his career against Tampines Rovers in the S.League on 18 September 2005.[1][3] He then scored his second goal of the season on 30 September 2005 against Woodlands Wellington.[3] Arata ended the season with 22 caps in S.League with 3 goals and 2 caps in the Singapore Cup scoring 1 goal.[4]

Mitsubishi Mizushima

In 2006 after a successful season with Albirex Niigata Singapore in which the team finished 5th in the S.League,[3] Arata moved back to Japan and signed for Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima of the Japan Football League. While with the team Arata also worked for Mitsubishi Motors as a toso (a person of paints cars).[5] He worked 10 hours a day from 5 in the morning to 6 in the evening with the car company and then he spent 2 hours practicing with the football team. Despite scoring 7 goals and gaining 7 assists in 24 games during the 2006 season Izumi could not stop the club finishing in 17th place, 2nd the last that season.[4]

East Bengal

In November 2006 Izumi signed for East Bengal of the National Football League.[6] At first he struggled to get accustomed to the Indian climate but eventually he found his way. He ended his maiden season with the club with 1 goal and 10 assists in 14 games.[4]

Mahindra United

In 2007 Izumi signed for Mahindra United of the I-League, which replaced the old National Football League.[7] He began the 2007–08 I-League campaign with an injury that kept him out of football for six months.[7] He managed to come back that season, scoring 1 goal and getting 2 assists in 8 games.[4] The next season Izumi scored 1 goal and gained 5 assists in 16 I-League games.[4] That season Arata and Mahindra won the Durand Cup.[7]

Pune

Arata Izumi in 2009

In 2009 Izumi signed for newly promoted I-League side Pune.[8] Izumi has called his move to Pune as the turning point of his career.[8] In 2010 he finished the season with a career high 10 goals and 10 assists in 26 games.[4] He also scored an extra 6 goals in cup matches.[4] He was the top goalscorer among all midfielders and was also nominated as the best midfielder in the I-League by goal.com.[8] Izumi also won the Pune FC Man of Steel award from the club that season.[8] Arata continued his good form for the club in 2010–11 scoring 6 goals and getting 9 assists in 24 games.[9] On 22 October 2011 Izumi made his 50th appearance for the club in I-League in the opening match of the 2011–12 season against Shillong Lajong.[10] On 24 August 2012 Izumi extended his contract by 2 years with Pune FC.[11]

Atlético de Kolkata

In 2015 Izumi signed for Atlético Kolkata of the 2015 Indian Super League season. He produced a match winning performance against Kerala Blasters in Kochi, coming off the bench and scoring twice on 84th and 90+3 minutes with his team winning the match 3-2.[12]

International

On 24 August 2012, Izumi gained Indian citizenship, thus making him eligible to play for India at the international level.[11] Then on 29 January 2013 it was confirmed that Izumi had been called up to Wim Koevermans side for the friendly against Palestine.[13] Izumi then made his international debut in that match when he came on in the 64th minute for Lenny Rodrigues as India went on to lose the match 4–2.[14]

Since then Izumi has also been called up to India's 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification squad and their 2013 SAFF Championship squad.[15]

Personal

Arata was born to Narendra Khambholja, a Gujarati father and Akiko Izumi, a Japanese mother.[16] On 24 August 2012 it was officially announced by his club, Pune FC, that he has received Indian citizenship from the Government of India.[11] Izumi also holds an Indian name, Neelkanth Khambholja.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of 2 June 2016[17][18]
Club Season League League Cup Domestic Cup AFC Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Albirex Niigata Singapore 2005 S.League2232100244
Total 223210000244
Mitsubishi Mizushima 2006 Japan Football League2448200326
Total 244820000326
East Bengal 2006–07 National Football League1411000151
Total 141100000151
Mahindra United 2007–08 I-League814020141
2008–09 I-League1614010211
Total 242803000352
Pune 2009–10 I-League261000312911
2010–11 I-League2462020286
2011–12 I-League2130030243
2012–13 I-League2250021246
2013–14 I-League171300030211
2014–15 I-League1904141272
Total 12925911433015529
Atlético de Kolkata 2015 Indian Super League115115
Total 115000000115
Mumbai (loan) 2015–16 I-League13120151
Career total 237413041327128748

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Albirex Niigata 2005". Arata Izumi. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  2. http://www.albirex.com.sg/ Niigata webpage
  3. 1 2 3 "Singapore 2005". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 http://arataizumi.com/news/stats.html Arata Izumi Stats
  5. "Mitubishi Mizushima FC 2006". Arata Izumi. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  6. "Kingfisher East Bengal FC 2006–2007". Arata Izumi. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 "Mahindra United FC 2007–2009". Arata Izumi. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Pune FC 2009–2010". Arata Izumi. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  9. "Pune FC 2010–2011". Arata Izumi. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  10. "I-League: Pune FC 0–0 Shillong Lajong FC". Pune Football Club. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 "Medio Arata now an Indian citizen; Pune FC extend contract". Pune Football Club. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  12. http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/kerala-blasters-vs-atl%C3%A9tico-de-kolkata/2037325/report
  13. "Arata Izumi becomes first foreign national to be selected for Indian football team". NDTV Sport. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  14. "India 2-4 Palestine". Goal.com. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  15. "Wim Koevermans names India squad for SAFF Championship". NDTV Sports. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  16. 1 2 Biswas, Babua. "Pune FC holds a special place in my heart: Arata Izumi". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  17. Arata Izumi profile at Soccerway
  18. "Arata Izumi Statistics". Arata Izumi. Retrieved 24 December 2013.

External links

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