Nobuyuki Kojima

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Personal information
Nobuyuki Kojima
Full name	Nobuyuki Kojima
Date of birth	January 17, 1966 (1966-01-17) (age 42)
Place of birth	Maebashi, Japan
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth clubs
1984-1987	Doshisha University
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1988-1998 1999-2001 2002-2005	Fujita / Bellmare Hiratsuka Avispa Fukuoka Thespa Kusatsu Total	186 00(0) 068 00(0) 067 00(0) 321 00(0)
National team
1995-1996	Japan	004 00(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Nobuyuki Kojima (born January 17, 1966 in Maebashi, Gunma) is a retired Japanese football goalkeeper. He played for several J-League clubs, including Bellmare Hiratsuka, Avispa Fukuoka and Thespa Kusatsu. He played for the Japan national football team (4 matches) and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] Career

He started playing football when he was in the 5th grade and was converted to a goalkeeper at high school. After graduating from Doshisha University in 1988, Kojima joined Fujita Industries F.C. (current Shonan Bellmare) playing in the Japan Soccer League division 1. He became a regular starting member of the team in 1994. He had been playing for the club as an employee of Fujita Industries but turned professional in January 1995.

His international debut came on June 6, 1995 against Brazil in the Umbro Cup. He was in the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup as the third GK but did not play any game in the tournament.

At the end of 1998, Bellmare released their main players including Kojima as well as Wagner Lopes, Hong Myung-Bo, Kazuaki Tasaka and Yoshihiro Natsuka due to their financial problems. Kojima moved to Avispa Fukuoka. He further moved to Thespa Kusatsu in 2002 that played in the Gunma Prefectural League division 2. As a player - assistant coach, he was instrumental in the team's promotion to the Japan Football League, then J. League division 2. His last competitive game was against Consadole Sapporo on December 3, 2005 and he announced his retirement from the game in January 2006.

He is currently an advisor for Kusatsu. He also serves as a pundit for NHK. (as of August 2007)

[edit] National team

[edit] External links

National Football Teams

v • d • e Japan squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup

1 Kojima • 2 Narahashi • 3 Soma • 4 Ihara • 5 Omura • 6 Yamaguchi • 7 Ito • 8 Nakata • 9 Nakayama • 10 Nanami • 11 Ono • 12 Lopes • 13 Hattori • 14 Okano • 15 Morishima • 16 Saito • 17 Akita • 18 Jo • 19 Nakanishi • 20 Kawaguchi • 21 Narazaki • 22 Hirano • Coach: Okada