Naoya Kikuchi

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Personal information
Naoya Kikuchi
Full name	Naoya Kikuchi
Date of birth	November 24, 1984 (1984-11-24) (age 23)
Place of birth	Shimizu, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Midfielder / Defender
Club information
Current club	FC Carl Zeiss Jena
Number	29
Youth clubs
1997-2000 2000-2003	Shimizu S-Pulse Junior Youth Shimizu Commercial High School
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003-2005 2005 2006-2007 2008-	Júbilo Iwata → Albirex Niigata (loan) Júbilo Iwata FC Carl Zeiss Jena	34 (1) 15 (1) 45 (5) 03 (0)
National team²
2001-2002 2002-2004 2004	Japan U-17 Japan U-20 Japan U-23
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 May 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 25 January 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Naoya Kikuchi (菊地直哉, Kikuchi Naoya^?, born November 24, 1984) is a professional Japanese footballer. Born in Shizuoka Prefecture, he played for Shimizu S-Pulse and Shimizu Commercial High School, which has a strong soccer tradition with players such as Shinji Ono among its alumni. A former player of Júbilo Iwata and Albirex Niigata, currently playing for FC Carl Zeiss Jena.

He was part of the 2004 Olympic football team for Japan that exited the tournament in the first round, having finished last in group B behind the teams from Paraguay, Italy, and Ghana. He also had an impressive World U-17 Championship tournament in 2001. In 2002, he was invited to have a try-out at Arsenal F.C. and later went on to have another trial with a Dutch team, Feyenoord. He capped for Japan U-20 team at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

On 13 June 2007, Kikuchi was arrested in Hamamatsu, Japan for the charge of an indecent act on a 15-year-old high school student.^[1] On 29 June 2007 he was sacked by Júbilo Iwata after the scandal.^[2]