Aya Sameshima

Aya Sameshima

Aya Sameshima playing for Japan against Sweden in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup semi finals
Personal information
Date of birth (1987-06-16) 16 June 1987
Place of birth Kawachi, Tochigi, Japan
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[1]
Playing position Left back / Left midfielder
Club information
Current team
 INAC Kobe Leonessa
Number 3
Youth career
1995–2002 Kawachi SC Juvenile
2003–2005 Tokiwagi Gakuen High School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2011 TEPCO Mareeze 98 (18)
2011 Boston Breakers 5 (0)
2011–2012 Montpellier 18 (0)
2012–2014 Vegalta Sendai 15 (3)
2014 Houston Dash 0 (0)
2014–2015 Vegalta Sendai 6 (0)
2015– INAC Kobe Leonessa
National team‡
2008– Japan 62 (3)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 November 2012.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 09:23, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

Aya Sameshima (鮫島 彩 Sameshima Aya, born 16 June 1987) is a Japanese international footballer. Mainly a left-sided defender, she plays for INAC Kobe Leonessa.

Club career

Sameshima played youth football for Kawachi SC Juvenile between 1995 and 2002 and Tokiwagi Gakuen High School from 2003 until 2005. In 2006 she joined TEPCO Mareeze, the club owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company.[2] During her time at Mareeze she lived in the J-Village Sports complex in Hirono near Fukushima, and like other players, she worked at the TEPCO-run Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to earn a living whilst playing for the club.[2]

Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster, during which the team were in a training camp in the south of the country, the club pulled out of the L. League for the remainder of the season.[2] Sameshima then began training with the Boston Breakers in March 2011, before signing for the club permanently,[3] the first former Mareeze player to sign for another club.[4] She made her debut for the Breakers against Sky Blue on 12 June as a second-half substitute for Alex Scott,[5] becoming the first Japanese international to play for the club.[6]

On 19 September 2011, Sameshima joined French club Montpellier, joining compatriot Rumi Utsugi at the club.[7] She returned to Japan to play for Vegalta Sendai in 2012, before joining Houston Dash in January 2014.[8] However, due to injuries she failed to make an appearance, and rejoined Vegalta Sendai in July 2014. She subsequently signed for INAC Kobe Leonessa for the 2015 season.

International career

After playing for the Japanese team at the AFC U-19 Women's Championship in 2006,[9] Sameshima made her full international debut in 2008 and played in the Women's Asian Cup that year, scoring the first goal in an 11–0 win over Chinese Taipei. In 2010 she played in the 2010 Asian Games, winning a gold medal as Japan won the tournament. In 2011 she was part of the Japan squad for the World Cup, playing in every match for the World Cup Champion Japanese team.[10]

Career statistics

Club career

Club Season League Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
TEPCO Mareeze200617120-191
200721830432811
200821530-245
200921131-242
20101832053256
Total98181319612025
Boston Breakers201150--50
Montpellier2011–1218050-230
Vegalta Sendai20126321-84
2013900022112
Total1532122196
Houston Dash20140000-00
Vegalta Sendai201460-3191
INAC Kobe Leonessa2015
Career total1422120214917632

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 31 May 2008 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam  Chinese Taipei 0–1 0–11 2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup
2 20 May 2010 Chengdu, China  Myanmar
4–0
8–0 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup
3 28 October 2014 BC Place, Vancouver  Canada
2–3
2–3 Friendly
4 12 June 2015 BC Place, Vancouver  Cameroon
1–0
2–1 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

Honors

References

  1. ↑ "Japanese Medalists in London 2012 Olympics". joc.or.jp. Japanese Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Nadeshiko Japan resumes play in U.S. friendlies Archived 6 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ESPN, 15 May 2011
  3. ↑ Japan: Roster Archived 21 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Our Game
  4. ↑ SOCCER/ Sameshima plays for fans, friends in disaster areas Asahi, 17 July 2011
  5. ↑ Breakers Draw With Sky Blue FC, Extend Unbeaten Streak to Two Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Women's Professional Soccer, 12 June 2011
  6. ↑ Breakers Add Japanese International Aya Sameshima To Roster Women's Professional Soccer, 13 June 2011
  7. ↑ Signature d'Aya Sameshima Archived 26 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Montpellier HSC, 22 September 2011
  8. ↑ Houston Dash sign Japanese international Aya Sameshima Archived 28 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Houston Dynamo
  9. ↑ News > April 2006 Bhangra Boys
  10. ↑ Aya Sameshima Soccerway

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.