 Watanabe playing forFC Tokyo in 2013 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kazuma Watanabe | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1986-08-10)10 August 1986 (age 38) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nagasaki,[1] Japan | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft11+1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Matsumoto Yamaga FC | |||||||||||||
| Number | 49 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | Kunimi High School | |||||||||||||
| College career | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2005–2008 | Waseda University | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 88 | (28) | |||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | FC Tokyo | 86 | (26) | |||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | Vissel Kobe | 114 | (34) | |||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Gamba Osaka | 63 | (11) | |||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Yokohama FC | 53 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2023– | Matsumoto Yamaga FC | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Japan | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 November 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 January 2010 | ||||||||||||||
Kazuma Watanabe (渡邉 千真,Watanabe Kazuma, born 10 August 1986) is a Japanesefootballer who plays forMatsumoto Yamaga FC in theJ3 League. He plays as acentre-forward and has previously had spells withYokohama F. Marinos,FC Tokyo,Vissel Kobe andGamba Osaka.[2][3]
His older brotherDaigo Watanabe was also a professional soccer player withKyoto Sanga FC,Omiya Ardija,Busan IPark andKamatamare Sanuki.[4]
Watanabe made hisJ-League debut for Yokohama F. Marinos againstSanfrecce Hiroshima on 7 March 2009 and scored his first league goal.[5] He kept up his scoring exploits throughout the 2009 season and finished with 13 league goals which broke the previous record for a rookie player set byShoji Jo in1994. This earned himthe young player of the year award 2009. During his next two seasons in Yokohama, he did not quite hit the heights of his debut year, but he did go on to amass a respectable 15 goals in 54 league games across 2010 and 2011.
Watanabe was transferred to FC Tokyo ahead of the 2012 season and in total he spent 3 seasons in Japan's capital. 2013 was a highlight for him as he bagged 17 goals in 33 league games to help the men in blue and red finish in eighth place in the final standings. However, his other two seasons with Tokyo were rather forgettable, he scored six times in 27 league games during his first year at theAjinomoto Stadium in 2012 before finishing off his career in the capital by netting just three times in 26 league appearances.
This loss of form in 2014 saw him shipped off to joinVissel Kobe ahead of the 2015 campaign. The move west seemed to do him good as he was immediately back into double figures in terms of goals scored, ending the 2015 season with 10 goals in 28 league appearances. The following year was even better for him personally as he scored 12 goals in 33 league games, which helped Kobe to an impressive seventh-place finish in the overall standings in 2016. That would prove to be the pinnacle of his career in the port city as he followed it up with eight goals in 34 league games in 2017 before netting just four times in 19 games in the first half of the 2018 season.
Watanabe joined Gamba Osaka in August 2018 in a deal which saw Gamba forwardShun Nagasawa move in the opposite direction.[6] He made a scoring debut for the men in blue and black with a 27th-minute strike to break the deadlock in a league match away toVegalta Sendai. Unfortunately for him and his team-mates his goal was not enough as Sendai fought back in the second half to finish as 2–1 winners.[7] He ended the season with three goals in 12 league appearances to help Gamba to a ninth-place finish in the final league table.[2]
In 2021 he joinedYokohama FC on a free transfer.[8]
Watanabe made his full, senior international debut forJapan on 6 January 2010 in a2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifier againstYemen. He started the match and was replaced in the 85th minute byKensuke Nagai as Japan came from two goals down to run out 3–2 winners.[9]
Updated as of match played on 22 April 2021.[10][11]
| Club | Season | League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | AFC | Other1 | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 2009 | 34 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 4 | - | - | 45 | 21 | ||
| 2010 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 32 | 9 | |||
| 2011 | 30 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | - | - | 40 | 10 | |||
| Total | 88 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 7 | - | - | 117 | 40 | |||
| FC Tokyo | 2012 | 27 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 11 |
| 2013 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 42 | 19 | |||
| 2014 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 33 | 4 | |||
| Total | 86 | 26 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 114 | 34 | |
| Vissel Kobe | 2015 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 7 | - | - | 40 | 20 | ||
| 2016 | 33 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | - | - | 42 | 17 | |||
| 2017 | 34 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 0 | - | - | 46 | 12 | |||
| 2018 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | - | - | 26 | 7 | |||
| Total | 114 | 34 | 13 | 9 | 27 | 13 | - | - | 154 | 56 | |||
| Gamba Osaka | 2018 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 12 | 3 | ||
| 2019 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | - | - | 26 | 3 | |||
| 2020 | 33 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 37 | 6 | |||
| Total | 63 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | - | - | 75 | 12 | |||
| Yokohama FC | 2021 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 9 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 359 | 100 | 35 | 16 | 67 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 469 | 142 | |
1IncludesJapanese Super Cup.
| Japan national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 |
