is a Japanese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. She was also a member of the Japan national team.

Club career

Handa was born in

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tok ...

on 10 May 1965. She played for her local club Shimizudaihachi SC and

Suzuyo Shimizu FC Lovely Ladies was a women's football team which played in Division 1 of Japan's L. League, Nadeshiko League. It was one of the founding clubs in the league when it was created in 1989. The club was disbanded in 1999. Founding The Suzuyo Shimizu FC Lovely L ...

(formerly ''Shimizu FC Ladies''). In 1989, Handa helped Shimizu FC Ladies win the L.League in its inaugural season, while also earning the Best player award. During the

1993 season The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its calendar advanced 24 hours to th ...

, she scored 14 goals and was the league's top scorer. She was selected Best Eleven four times (

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

National team career

In June 1981, when Handa was 16 years old, she was selected to the Japan national team for the 1981 AFC Championship. At this competition on 7 June, she debuted against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

. This fixture was also Japan's first

International A Match Association football (more commonly known as football or soccer) was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably earlier.

. On 13 June, she scored a goal in Japan's (1–0) victory against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It was Japan's first goal and win in an "A" match. She also played at the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and 1995 AFC Championships. Handa also competed at the

and

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games (), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games () or simply Hiroshima 1994 (), were held from October 2 to 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first Asian Games in history to be hosted in a non-capital city. Th ...

, as well as the

and 1995 World Cups and the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. She played 75 games in total for Japan throughout her career, as well as scoring 19 goals.Japan Football Association
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National team statistics

References

External links

* * * * 1965 births Living people Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players Shimizudaihachi Pleiades players Suzuyo Shimizu FC Lovely Ladies players Olympic footballers for Japan Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Women's association football midfielders Footballers at the 1990 Asian Games Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Nadeshiko League MVPs Association football people from Shizuoka (city) 20th-century Japanese sportswomen Asian Games silver medalists in football {{Japan-women-footy-bio-stub