Shinji Ono

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Shinji Ono
Personal information
Full name Shinji Ono
Date of birth September 27, 1979 (1979-09-27) (age 28)
Place of birth    Numazu, Japan
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club VfL Bochum
Number 23
Youth clubs
 ?-1992
1992-1995
1995-1998
Imazawa Boys Soccer Club
Imazawa Jr. H.S.
Shimizu Commercial H.S.
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1998-2001
2001-2006
2006-2008
2008-present
Urawa Red Diamonds
Feyenoord
Urawa Red Diamonds
VfL Bochum
086 (20)
112 (19)
053 0(8)
012 0(0)   
National team2
1998-2006 Japan 055 0(6)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of May 18, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of March 3, 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Shinji Ono (小野 伸二 Ono Shinji?, born on September 27, 1979 in Numazu, Shizuoka) is a Japanese football player, who plays as a midfielder for VfL Bochum in Germany.

Known as Tensai, Japanese for "Genius", from his youth days, Ono is one of the biggest stars in Asian football, known for his vision, technique and superb passing. Although his primary position is attacking midfielder, he can play anywhere in the midfield, including defensive midfield and either wing.

Contents

[edit] Career

Ono grew up in the Japanese soccer hotbed of Shizuoka Prefecture and began his professional career with Urawa Red Diamonds of the J. League in 1998. The same year, he became the youngest member of Japan's 1998 FIFA World Cup team at age 18 and made one appearance as a substitute.

He caught the attention of foreign clubs with his performance at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, where he captained the Japanese Under-20 side that reached the final. But later that year, he suffered a severe knee injury in a qualification match for the 2000 Olympics with Japan's Under-23 side, forcing him to miss the rest of the season and olympic qualifying. He did not regain full fitness in time for the Olympics in Sydney and Urawa was relegated to Division 2 in his absence. But rather than move to another J-League club or abroad, Ono stayed with Urawa for the 2000 season and helped the club return to top flight.

After a strong performance at the 2001 Confederations Cup, Ono moved to Feyenoord Rotterdam of the Dutch Eredivisie in 2001. In his first season, he helped Feyenoord win the 2002 UEFA Cup. However, a string of injuries kept him sidelined for long stretches. After he missed the majority of 2004-2005, his fourth at De Kuip, the club was ready to sell him.

On January 13, 2006, after an unsuccessful attempt to stay in European football, Ono returned to J. League, agreeing a 3-year deal with his old club, Urawa Red Diamonds. [1] [2]

When fit, Ono is an ever-present member of the Japanese national team. After his appearance in the 1998 World Cup, he was a key member of the Japanese squad in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He has represented Japan at every age level starting with the U-16 team, and was one of three overage selections at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Although injuries limited Ono to just one appearance in the final round of the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup and he missed the Confederations Cup in 2003 and 2005, he played in his third World Cup finals in Germany.

Since returning to Urawa, he had suffered from repeated injuries and failed to claim a regular place. In the 2008 January transfer window, Ono returned to Europe, signing with Bundesliga's VfL Bochum. On February 3, 2008, Ono made his Bundesliga debut in an away game against Werder Bremen and he had two assists that helped Bochum with their first ever win over Bremen at Weserstadion.

[edit] Individual Honors

[edit] Team Honors

[edit] Club Career Stats

Club Performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J. League Cup Asia Total
1998 Urawa Red Diamonds J. League Division 1 27 9 2 0 0 0 - 29 9
1999 14 2 2 0 0 0 - 16 2
2000 J. League Division 2 24 7 2 1 0 0 - 26 8
2001 J. League Division 1 14 2 - 4 3 - 18 5
Netherlands League KNVB Cup League Cup Europe Total
2001-02 Feyenoord Eredivisie 30 3 - - 11 2 41 5
2002-03 29 7 - - 7 2 36 9
2003-04 24 2 - - 4 0 28 2
2004-05 25 7 - - 6 1 31 8
2005-06 4 0 - - 1 0 5 0
Japan League Emperor's Cup J. League Cup Asia Total
2006 Urawa Red Diamonds J. League Division 1 28 5 4 3 1 1 - 33 9
2007 25 3 0 0 2 1 8 2 35 6
Germany League DFB-Pokal Premiere Ligapokal Europe Total
2007-08 VfL Bochum Bundesliga 12 0 - - - 12 0
Total Japan 132 28 10 4 7 5 8 2 157 39
Netherlands 112 19 - - 29 5 141 24
Germany 12 0 - - - 12 0
Career Total 256 47 10 4 7 5 37 7 310 63

[edit] National team

[edit] Goals for national team

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. October 14, 2000 Sidon, Lebanon Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 4-1 Won 2000 AFC Asian Cup Group Stage
2. May 31, 2001 Niigata, Japan Flag of Canada Canada 3-0 Won 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Group Stage
3. October 16, 2002 Tokyo, Japan Flag of Jamaica Jamaica 1-1 Draw Friendly
4. June 1, 2004 Manchester, England Flag of England England 1-1 Draw Friendly
5. September 8, 2004 Kolkata, India Flag of India India 4-0 Won 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification
6. February 22, 2006 Yokohama, Japan Flag of India India 6-0 Won 2007 AFC Asian Cup Qualification

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Flag of Japan Atsushi Yanagisawa
J-League Young Player of the Year
1998
Succeeded by
Flag of Japan Yuji Nakazawa
Preceded by
Flag of Iran Mehdi Mahdavikia
Asian Young Footballer of the Year
1998
Succeeded by
Flag of Qatar Waleed Hamzah
Preceded by
Flag of the People's Republic of China Fan Zhiyi
Asian Footballer of the Year
2002
Succeeded by
Flag of Iran Mehdi Mahdavikia