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Risa Shimizu (清水 梨紗, Shimizu Risa, born June 15, 1996) is a Japanese professional football player who plays as a right-back for West Ham United playing in the English Women's Super League and the Japan national team.

Risa Shimizu
清水 梨紗

Shimizu with Japan in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Risa Shimizu
Date of birth	(1996-06-15) June 15, 1996 (age 26)
Place of birth	Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current team	West Ham United
Number	3
Youth career
2009–2012	Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2022	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	165	(4)
2022–	West Ham United	3	(0)
National team‡
2012	Japan U-17	4	(1)
2018–	Japan	53	(1)
Honours Nippon TV Beleza Winner Nadeshiko League 2015 Winner Nadeshiko League 2016 Winner Nadeshiko League 2017 Winner Nadeshiko League 2018 Runner-up Nadeshiko League 2013 Runner-up Nadeshiko League 2014 Winner Nadeshiko League Cup 2016 Winner Nadeshiko League Cup 2018 Winner Empress's Cup 2014 Winner Empress's Cup 2017 Winner Empress's Cup 2018 Representing  Japan AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 Jordan Asian Games 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Team AFC U-19 Women's Championship 2015 China AFC U-16 Women's Championship 2011 China
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:30, 02 October 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of December 14, 2019

Early life and career

Shimizu was born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture on June 15, 1996. She began playing football aged seven years old, influenced by her two years older sister.[1] Her family moved to Yokohama, in Kanagawa Prefecture the following year, and she joined local club FC Susukino Ladies. By the time she was ten, Shimizu was a prolific striker for her team in national junior competitions.[2]

In 2009, aged 12, she was accepted into Menina, the nation's top youth academy of the club she would later play for, Tokyo Verdy Beleza. She initially played as a forward but was gradually converted into a midfielder, and eventually settled on the fullback position which she would specialise.[3] While at the academy, she befriended and rose through the ranks with fellow players such as Yui Hasegawa and Yuka Momiki, all of whom would go on play for the Japan national team together.[4]

In addition to football, Shimizu was a talented runner from an early age and earned stellar results in statewide marathon competitions at elementary level. Despite receiving no formal training due to her focus on football, she still won her high school marathon races, beating students who were enrolled in the track and field club.[5]

Club career

Having progressed through the youth set-up of Tokyo Verdy Beleza, the club with the most number of titles in the top flight of women's football in Japan, Shimizu was promoted to the senior team at the age of seventeen. On 23 March 2013, she made her debut in the Nadeshiko League against FC Kibi IU Charme.[6] She established herself as the first choice right-back in her first professional season, making 24 appearances in all competitions.

She scored her first goal for the club on 15 June 2014, in a match against the same opponents she made her debut with.[7] In the 2015 Nadeshiko League season, Shimizu played in every single league game and was one of the key figures who led the team to win the championship that year, ending a five-year drought for the domestic title.[8] In the years since, she has won multiple trophies with Beleza; including successive domestic titles, the annual Empress's Cup, the League Cup and the AFC Women's Club Championship.

One of the most consistent and first-rate performers, Shimizu was first chosen to the Nadeshiko League Best XI in the 2017 season and has since been selected every year, including the first inaugural WE League season after the league was revamped and turned fully professional.[9]

In 2020, she was named captain of the club.[10]

In August 2022, Shimizu left Tokyo Verdy Beleza after almost a decade, and signed a two-year contract with English club West Ham United.[11]

International career

Shimizu was first called up to a training camp for the Japan U-14 national team in 2010. The next year, she participated in the 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship held in Nanjing, China. In 2012, she was selected to the Japan U-17 national team for 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, where she scored in a group stage win against Mexico.[12]

She received her first senior cap for the Japan national team on 22 October 2017, in a 2–0 win against Switzerland in the MS&AD Cup.[13] At the 2018 Algarve Cup, she played in her first international tournament at senior level, coming on as a substitute against the Netherlands. Shimizu cemented her place as the starting right-back for the national team that same year, starting all the matches in Japan's victorious 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup run where they defeated Australia 1–0 in the final to win their second consecutive title.[14] This success was followed by a gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games, where Japan emerged champions of yet another closely contested final, with a 90th-minute goal at the death to win 1–0 over China.[15]

She was selected to Japan's squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France and the 2020 Summer Olympics in her home country. She started all matches and played full games in both tournaments.

Shimizu was also part of Japan's squad that won the EAFF East Asian Football Championship in 2019 and 2022, and she was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament in the latter, as Japan went undefeated in the competition.

Style of play

Despite her relatively slender frame for a women's footballer, Shimizu is known for her relentless and aggressive defensive capabilities.[16] However, the qualities she has garnered the most praise for are her especially high work-rate and stamina, earning a reputation as a right-back who can make repeated overlapping runs over the course of a full match, contributing as much to attacking plays as she does to defending. This is largely thanks to her experience as a marathon runner in her youth, having won state-level competitions in Kanagawa when she was at elementary level.[17]

Shimizu is also proficient at occupying attacking spaces on the pitch and creating goalscoring opportunities for her teammates. As with many Japanese players that are noted for their technical abilities on the ball,[18] Shimizu often plays a key role in assisting goals from the high degree of accuracy on her early crosses and penetrative passes into the penalty box following dribbles down the byline.[19]

National team statistics

[20]

Japan national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2018	19	0
2019	12	0
2020	2	0
2021	11	1
2022	9	0
Total	53	1

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 April 2021	Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Panama	2–0	7–0	Friendly

Honours

Tokyo Verdy Beleza

• Nadeshiko League: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
• Nadeshiko League Cup: 2016, 2018, 2019
• Empress's Cup: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• AFC Women's Club Championship: 2019

Japan U19

• AFC U-19 Women's Championship: 2015

Japan

• AFC Women's Asian Cup: 2018
• Asian Games: 2018
• EAFF Women's Football Championship: 2019, 2022

Individual

• Nadeshiko League Best Eleven: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• WE League Best Eleven: 2021-22
• WE League Outstanding Players Award: 2021-22
• EAFF Women's Football Championship MVP: 2022

References

External links

• Risa Shimizu – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Risa Shimizu at Soccerway
• Risa Shimizu at WorldFootball.net
• Japan Football Association

На других языках

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- [en] Risa Shimizu (footballer)

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[it] Risa Shimizu (calciatrice)

Risa Shimizu (清水 梨紗 Shimizu Risa?; Prefettura di Hyōgo, 15 giugno 1996) è una calciatrice giapponese, difensore del Nippon TV Beleza e della nazionale giapponese.

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