Seigo Narazaki (楢﨑 正剛, Narazaki Seigō, born 15 April 1976) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.[2] He played for Japan national team.
After graduating from Nara Ikuei High School in 1995, Narazaki joined the J1 League side Yokohama Flügels. In August 1995, regular goalkeeper Atsuhiko Mori was suspended for three months due to violence against referee. On 16 August 1995, Narazaki debuted against Bellmare Hiratsuka to replace Mori[3][4] and Narazaki became the regular goalkeeper. In the 1996 season, Flügels finished in third place and Narazaki was also selected in the Best Eleven award. He contributed to the club winning the 1998 Emperor's Cup. However, Flügels was merged with cross-town team Yokohama Marinos and Flügels was dissolved at the end of the 1998 season.
In 1999, Narazaki moved to Nagoya Grampus Eight (later Nagoya Grampus) with Flügels teammate Motohiro Yamaguchi. In 1999, Grampus were the champions of the Emperor's Cup for two years in a row, the second time in two years for Narazaki. In 2008, Grampus appointed new manager Dragan Stojković who played for Grampus until 2001. Grampus, under Stojković, reached third place in the J1 League and Narazaki was selected in the Best Eleven award. In 2010, Grampus won the J1 League and were champions for the first time in the club's history. Narazaki also became the first goalkeeper to receive the J.League Most Valuable Player award.[5] In 2016 season, Grampus finished in 16th place of 18 clubs and was relegated to J2 League for the first time in the club history. In the 2017 J2 League season, the club finished third and were returned to the top flight. However, his opportunities to play decreased behind Yohei Takeda until summer.[6] In 2018, Narazaki was effectively relegated to second choice behind new Australian signing Mitchell Langerak and did not make a single appearance.[7]
Narazaki announced his retirement from football on 8 January 2019.[8] He was 42 years old.
On 15 February 1998, Narazaki made his international debut for Japan national team against Australia.[9] After the debut, he battles with Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi for the position for 10 years. He was selected Japan for 1998 World Cup. However, Kawaguchi played in Japan’s three matches at the tournament.
In 2000, Narazaki was selected Japan U23 national team as over age for 2000 Summer Olympics and played full time in all 4 matches. Although he could hardly play in the match in 2001, he played many matches in 2002. At 2002 World Cup in Japan, he played all 4 matches and Japan qualified to the knockout stage first time in their history.
Narazaki played many matches as regular goalkeeper until summer 2004. Although he was selected Japan for 2004 Asian Cup, he could not play for injury.[10] His rival Kawaguchi performed brilliantly at Asian Cup and Japan won the champions. After Asian Cup, Narazaki lost regular position behind Kawaguchi. Although Narazaki was selected Japan for 2006 World Cup, he did not play in a match.
Although Narazaki could not play many matches until 2007, he became a regular goalkeeper because Kawaguchi was injured in 2008. Narazaki was named in the 2010 World Cup squad as one of two Japanese players (the other being Kawaguchi) to be selected for 4 consecutive World Cups. However, despite performing impressively in the qualifiers, he was benched for the tournament in favour of his former understudy Eiji Kawashima. He would make one last appearance for Japan when he captained the team to a 2–1 victory over Guatemala on 7 September 2010 before retiring from international duty. He played 77 games for Japan.[9]
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