was a Japanese 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 ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for the Japan national team.

Club career

Matsuda was born in Kiryu on 14 March 1977. After graduating from high school, he joined

Yokohama Marinos , stylised as Yokohama F·Marinos, is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Having w ...

(later ''Yokohama F. Marinos'') in 1995. From first season, he became a regular player and played as right back of three defence with Japan national team players

Masami Ihara is a Japanese former footballer and manager. He was most recently the manager of J1 League club Kashiwa Reysol. A defender, Ihara was captain of the Japan national team for more than a decade in the 1990s, together with striker Kazuyoshi Miur ...

and

Norio Omura is a Japanese former football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team from 1995 to 1998. Club career Omura was born in Matsue, Japan on September 6, 1969. After graduating from Juntendo University, he joined Yokohama Marino ...

. The club won the champions in 1995 J1 League. In 2000s, he mainly played as centre back with Yuji Nakazawa or Yuzo Kurihara, also played defensive midfielder. The club won the champions 2001 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 ...

and 2004 J1 League. Although he played as central player of Marinos in 16 seasons, he was sacked end of 2010 season. Matsuda moved to

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

club

Matsumoto Yamaga FC or simply Matsumoto Yamaga (松本山雅FC, ''Matsumoto Yamaga Efu Shī'') is a Japanese football (soccer) club based in the city of Matsumoto, located in the Nagano Prefecture. The club currently plays in the J3 League, Japanese third tier o ...

in 2011. Although he played for qualify for promote 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 ...

, in 2 August, he collapsed for

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

during training. On 4 August, he died at the age of 34. His last match against

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

on 23 July was his 400th game in the league. At the end of the season, the club won promotion to the J2 League.

International career

In August 1993, Matsuda was selected Japan U-17 national team for 1993 U-17 World Championship. He played full-time in all 4 matches and scored 1 goal. In April 1995, he was also selected Japan U-20 national team for 1995 World Youth Championship and he played full-time in all 4 matches. In July 1996, Matsuda was selected Japan U-23 national team for

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, ...

and he played full-time in all 3 matches. Although Japan won 2 matches, Japan lost at First round. At this time, Japan won

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 first game. It was known as "Miracle of Miami" ( マイアミの奇跡) in Japan. On 5 February 2000, Matsuda debuted for Japan national team against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. After the debut, he played many matches as one of three backs defense. In September, he was selected U-23 Japan for

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

2nd time. However he played only 2 matches instead Koji Nakata got injured in the third game. In October 2000, Matsuda was selected Japan for

2000 Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan def ...

. He played 3 matches and Japan won the champions. In 2001, he was also selected Japan for

2001 Confederations Cup The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organized by FIFA. It was also the first in which the original hosts, Saudi Arabia, did not participate (they were the nation who founded the tournament, pr ...

. He played 4 matches and Japan won the 2nd place. At

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, he played full-time in all 4 matches. After 2002 World Cup, he did not play in many matches. He was selected Japan for

2004 Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champio ...

. Although Japan won the champions, he played only 5 minutes. On 29 January 2005, he played and scored a goal against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. Although this goal is his first goal for Japan, this game became his last game for Japan. He played 40 games and scored 1 goal for Japan until 2005.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Death

On 2 August 2011, Matsuda collapsed during training with

due to a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

after finishing a 15-minute warmup run, and doctors diagnosed his condition as "extremely severe". Two days later, he died at the age of 34. Despite having released him in 2010, his former club, Yokohama F. Marinos, retired his uniform number 3 after his death, as an indication of his contribution not only to F. Marinos but to Japan football's development, both at league and international levels. The funeral was held on 9 August 2011 and attendees included players who once played for Japan and Yokohama F. Marinos.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Matsuda goal.''

Honours

Yokohama F. Marinos *

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 ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

J.League Cup The is a Japanese Association football, football (soccer) competition organised by J.League, the men's association football league in Japan. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since it ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Japan *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

: Runner-up

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Individual *

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only on two occasions there has been a full-Japanese Best X ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

* J.League 20th Anniversary Team *J.League 30th Anniversary Team

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsuda, Naoki 1977 births 2011 deaths Association football people from Gunma Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers People from Kiryū, Gunma 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Japan men's international footballers J1 League players Japan Football League players Yokohama F. Marinos players Matsumoto Yamaga FC players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup–winning players Olympic footballers for Japan Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Men's association football defenders Association football players who died while playing Sport deaths in Japan Association football players with retired numbers