# Akinori Nishizawa

Akinori Nishizawa (西澤 明訓, Nishizawa Akinori, born 18 June 1976) is a Japanese former footballer who played as a forward. He played for Japan national team.

## Club career

Nishizawa was born in Shizuoka on 18 June 1976. After graduating from Shimizu Higashi High School, he joined Cerezo Osaka in 1995. He moved to Spanish club Espanyol in December 2000. In July 2001, he moved to English club Bolton Wanderers. During his brief spell playing Bolton Wanderers, he is best remembered for scoring a dramatic late equaliser against Walsall in the League Cup. In 2002, he returned to Cerezo Osaka was relegated to J2 League from 2002. The club won the 2nd place in 2002 and was promoted to J1 League. In 2006, the club was relegated to J2 League. He moved to his local club Shimizu S-Pulse in 2007. He returned to Cerezo Osaka in 2009 and he retired end of 2009 season.

## International career

On 21 May 1997, Nishizawa debuted for Japan national team against South Korea. Although he played four games and scored two goals at 1998 World Cup qualification in 1997, he was not selected Japan for 1998 World Cup. In 2000, he played for Japan for the first time in three years. At 2000 Asian Cup in October, he played all six games and scored five goals. Japan won the champions. At 2001 Confederations Cup, he also played four games and scored one goal. Japan achieved second place. He was selected Japan for 2002 World Cup and played one game. This match was his last game for Japan. He played 29 games and scored 10 goals for Japan until 2002.

## Career statistics
### Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1995 | J1 League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1996 | J1 League | 14 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 27 | 8 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1997 | J1 League | 19 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 10 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1998 | J1 League | 32 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 37 | 8 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1999 | J1 League | 30 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 35 | 17 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2000 | J1 League | 29 | 15 | – | – | 3 | 2 | 32 | 17 |
| Cerezo Osaka | Total | Total | 124 | 43 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 12 | 154 | 60 |
| Volendam (loan) | 1995–96 | Eredivisie | 0 | 0 | | | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| Espanyol | 2000–01 | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2001 | J1 League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 2001–02 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2002 | J2 League | 34 | 8 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 8 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2003 | J1 League | 24 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 9 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2004 | J1 League | 29 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 9 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2005 | J1 League | 28 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 38 | 14 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2006 | J1 League | 33 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 12 |
| Cerezo Osaka | Total | Total | 148 | 41 | 10 | 1 | 23 | 10 | 181 | 52 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2007 | J1 League | 22 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 31 | 3 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2008 | J1 League | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 7 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Total | Total | 43 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 60 | 10 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 2009 | J2 League | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 339 | 90 | 22 | 8 | 63 | 26 | 424 | 124 |

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Japan | 1997 | 5 | 2 |
| Japan | 1998 | 0 | 0 |
| Japan | 1999 | 0 | 0 |
| Japan | 2000 | 11 | 6 |
| Japan | 2001 | 8 | 1 |
| Japan | 2002 | 5 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 29 | 10 |
    Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nishizawa goal.
List of international goals scored by Akinori Nishizawa :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 1997 | | | | |
| 2 | 1997 | | | | |
| 3 | 5 June 2000 | Casablanca, Morocco | France | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 17 October 2000 | Sidon, Lebanon | Uzbekistan | 8–1 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup |
| 5 | 17 October 2000 | Sidon, Lebanon | Uzbekistan | 8–1 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup |
| 6 | 17 October 2000 | Sidon, Lebanon | Uzbekistan | 8–1 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup |
| 7 | 20 October 2000 | Beirut, Lebanon | Qatar | 1–1 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup |
| 8 | 26 October 2000 | Beirut, Lebanon | China | 3–2 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup |
| 9 | 22 June 2006 | Niigata, Japan | Canada | 3–0 | 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 10 | 29 April 2002 | Tokyo, Japan | Slovakia | 1–0 | 2002 Kirin Cup |

## Honours

Japan
* FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up: 2001
* AFC Asian Cup: 2000
Individual
* J1 League Best Eleven: 2000