is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who plays for

Omiya Ardija is a Japanese professional association football club based in Ōmiya-ku, Saitama, Ōmiya, Saitama Prefecture. Its "hometown" (as designated by the league) is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. The team currently play in J2 League, the ...

Club career

Minami was born in Kawasaki on 30 September 1979. After graduating from Shizuoka Gakuen High School, he joined

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 ...

club

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...

in 1998. He played as regular goalkeeper instead Yoichi Doi from summer in first season. He battles with Minami for the position with Motohiro Yoshida from 1999 and Reysol won the 3rd place in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and 2000 J1 League. Minami completely became a regular goalkeeper from 2001. However, the club results were sluggish from 2002 and 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 2005 season. In 2006 season, Reysol won the 2nd place and returned to J1 from 2007. Although he played as regular goalkeeper from 2007, his opportunity to play decreased behind new player

Takanori Sugeno is a Japanese football player who plays for Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. Playing career Although considered short for a goalkeeper, standing at 178 cm, he makes up for his lack of height with superb agility and reflexes. In 2006, he was a part ...

from 2008. In 2009, he could not play at all in the match in

and Reysol was relegated to J2 again. In 2010, Minami moved to J2 club

Roasso Kumamoto is a Japanese football club based in Kumamoto, the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture. The club currently plays in the J2 League, Japan's 2nd tier of professional league football. Name origin ''Roasso'' is a portmanteau of the Italian words ...

. He played as regular goalkeeper for 4 seasons until 2013 season. In 2014, he moved to J2 club

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming th ...

National team career

In June 1997, when Minami was a Shizuoka Gakuen High School student, he was selected Japan U-20 national team for 1997 World Youth Championship and he played 4 matches. In April 1999, he was selected U-20 Japan for 1999 World Youth Championship second time. At this tournament, he played full time in all 7 matches and Japan won the 2nd place.

Mistake

Minami became one of the few goalkeepers in football history managing to score an own goal against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

in a J. League match on 22 May 2004. He had gathered the ball and originally planned to throw the ball at first, but he paused and lost control, hurling the ball back into the net to the disbelief of his

Kashiwa is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 435,578 in 199,926 households and a population density of 3800 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The name of the city is w ...

teammates. The goal wouldn't matter, as Kashiwa lost 3-0.

Club statistics

Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社
"2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑"
10 February 2016, Japan, (p. 216 out of 289)

Honors and awards

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

runner-up:

References

External links

* * 1979 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers 21st-century Japanese sportsmen J1 League players J2 League players Kashiwa Reysol players Roasso Kumamoto players Yokohama FC players RB Omiya Ardija players Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Men's association football goalkeepers Asian Games competitors for Japan Association football people from Kawasaki, Kanagawa {{Japan-footy-goalkeeper-stub