is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Tsuboi was educated at and played for Yokkaichi Chuo Kogyo High School and Fukuoka University. After graduating from the university in 2002, he joined

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

and immediately broke into the first team. His first appearance came on 3 March 2002 against Yokohama F. Marinos in opening game in 2002 season. He scored his first league goal on 17 May 2003 against Gamba Osaka. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2002 and was selected as one of the J.League Best Eleven in 2003. In 2006, Reds won the champions in

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

which is first J1 champions in the club history. In 2007, Reds won first Asian title

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

. Although he played many matches as regular center back until 2010, he could not play many matches from 2011. In 2015, Tsuboi moved to Shonan Bellmare. However he could not play many matches and Bellmare was relegated to

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

end of 2016 season. In 2018, he moved to J2 club Renofa Yamaguchi FC.

International career

Tsuboi represented

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for the 2001 Summer Universiade held in Beijing where the team won the title beating

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in the final. Japan's national coach Zico gave him the first cap in 2003 when he played Tsuboi on 11 June 2003 in a friendly against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

at Saitama Stadium.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> He was a member of the Japan team for

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

where he played 2 games against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In Japan's first match against Australia, he suffered from cramps in his both thighs and had to be replaced by Teruyuki Moniwa in the 56th minute. He was also in the squad for 2007 Asian Cup but did not play any game in the tournament as Yuki Abe and Yuji Nakazawa were the first-choice centre backs. On 8 February 2008, he announced retirement from international football. He played 40 games for Japan until 2007.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Urawa Reds *

: 2006 * Emperor's Cup:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 2006 * J.League Cup:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* Japanese Super Cup: 2006 Shonan Bellmare *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual * J.League Best Eleven:

* J.League Rookie of the Year: 2002 * J. League Cup New Hero Award: 2002

References

External links

* * * *
Japan National Football Team Database

Profile at Renofa Yamaguchi FC

Yahoo! Sports Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsuboi, Keisuke 1979 births Living people Fukuoka University alumni People from Tama, Tokyo Association football people from Tokyo Metropolis Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Urawa Red Diamonds players Shonan Bellmare players Renofa Yamaguchi FC players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Men's association football defenders AFC Champions League Elite–winning players