Yuki Abe

is a Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

## Biography

Abe was born in Ichikawa on September 6, 1981. He joined J1 League club JEF United Ichihara (later _JEF United Chiba_) from their youth team in 1998. He made his debut at the age of 16 years and 333 days on August 5, 1998, at the time a record for the youngest player and J1 League. The club won the champions in the 2005 and 2006 J.League Cup. In 2007, he moved to Urawa Reds. The club won the champions in the 2007 AFC Champions League. In August 2010, he moved to English EFL Championship club Leicester City. In January 2012, he returned to Urawa. The club won the champions in the 2017 AFC Champions League.

In 2004, Abe was selected the Japan U-23 national team for 2004 Summer Olympics. He played all 3 matches and scored 1 goal. On January 29, 2005, he debuted for the Japan national team against Kazakhstan. However he was not selected the Japan for the 2006 World Cup. After the 2006 World Cup, he played many matches under new manager Ivica Osim. He played at 2007 Asian Cup. Although his opportunity to play decreased under manager Takeshi Okada from 2008, Abe was selected the Japan for the 2010 World Cup. He played all 4 matches as defensive midfielder. He played 53 games and scored 3 goals for Japan until 2011.

### Club

|rowspan="2"|Club|rowspan="2"|Season|colspan="3"|League|colspan="2"|National cup|colspan="2"|League cup|colspan="2"|Continental|colspan="2"|Other|colspan="2"|Total||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="7"|JEF United Ichihara|1998|rowspan="9"|J1 League|1|0|0|0|0|0|–|–|1|0|||
|1999|30|1|1|0|2|0|–|–|33|1|||||||
|2000|25|0|3|2|3|0|–|–|31|2|||||||
|2001|17|3|2|0|2|0|–|–|21|3|||||||
|2002|24|1|2|0|3|0|–|–|29|1|||||||
|2003|27|3|4|0|3|0|–|–|34|3|||||||
|2004|24|5|1|0|5|1|–|–|30|6|||||||
|rowspan="3"|JEF United Chiba|2005|33|12|1|0|10|5|–|–|44|17|||||
|2006|33|11|1|0|8|2|–|3|1|45|14||||||
|rowspan="5"|Urawa Reds|2007|rowspan="4"|J1 League|33|3|1|0|0|0|12|3|6|0|52|6|
|2008|33|6|1|0|1|0|4|0|–|39|6||||||
|2009|34|2|0|0|4|0|–|–|38|2|||||||
|2010|20|3|0|0|2|1|–|–|22|4|||||||
|rowspan="3"|Leicester City|2010–11|rowspan="2"|Championship|36|1|2|0|2|0|–|–|40|1|||
|2011–12|16|1|1|0|2|0|–|–|19|1|||||||
|rowspan="11"|Urawa Reds|2012|rowspan="10"|J1 League|34|4|3|0|4|0|–|–|41|4|||
|2013|33|6|0|0|5|0|6|1|–|44|7||||||
|2014|34|4|1|1|7|1|–|–|42|6|||||||
|2015|34|3|4|1|2|2|5|0|2|0|47|7|||||
|2016|34|1|1|0|4|1|6|0|–|47|3||||||
|2017|33|3|0|0|1|0|11|0|4|1|39|3|||||
|2018|27|1|5|0|5|0|–|–|37|1|||||||
|2019|11|0|1|0|1|0|6|0|1|0|20|0|||||
|2020|3|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|3|0|||||
|2021|9|3|0|0|4|0|0|0|0|0|13|3|||||

### International

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="7"|Japan|2005|5|0|
|2006|8|1|||
|2007|11|1|||
|2008|9|0|||
|2009|8|1|||
|2010|9|0|||
|2011|3|0|||

- _Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Abe goal._

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|16 August 2006|Niigata Stadium, Niigata, Japan|||2–0|2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification||||||||
|2|25 July 2007|Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam|||2–3|2007 AFC Asian Cup Semifinals||||||||
|3|27 May 2009|Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan|||4–0|Kirin Cup 2009||||||||

## Honours

**JEF United Chiba**
- J.League Cup: 2005, 2006

**Urawa Red Diamonds**
- AFC Champions League: 2007, 2017
- J.League Cup: 2016
- Suruga Bank Championship: 2017
- Emperor's Cup: 2018

**Individual**
- J.League Best Eleven: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2016
- J.League Cup New Hero Award: 2005

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Yuki Abe
阿部 勇樹
- **image**: Yuki Abe 7.05.2011.jpg
- **caption**: Abe playing for Leicester City F.C., Leicester City in 2011
- **full name**: Yuki Abe
- **birth place**: Ichikawa, Chiba, Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Japan
- **height**: 1.78 m
- **position**: Midfielder (association football)#Defensive midfielder, Defensive midfielder
- **youthyears1**: 1997–1998
- **youthclubs1**: JEF United Chiba, JEF United Ichihara
- **years1**: 1998–2006
- **clubs1**: JEF United Chiba
- **caps1**: 214
- **goals1**: 36
- **years2**: 2007–2010
- **clubs2**: Urawa Red Diamonds
- **caps2**: 120
- **goals2**: 14
- **years3**: 2010–2012
- **clubs3**: Leicester City F.C., Leicester City
- **caps3**: 52
- **goals3**: 2
- **years4**: 2012–2022
- **clubs4**: Urawa Red Diamonds
- **caps4**: 256
- **goals4**: 25
- **totalcaps**: 642
- **totalgoals**: 77
- **nationalyears1**: 2000
- **nationalteam1**: Japan national under-20 football team, Japan U-20
- **nationalcaps1**: 2
- **nationalgoals1**: 2
- **nationalyears2**: 2002–2004
- **nationalteam2**: Japan national under-23 football team, Japan U-23
- **nationalcaps2**: 13
- **nationalgoals2**: 3
- **nationalyears3**: 2005–2011
- **nationalteam3**: Japan national football team, Japan
- **nationalcaps3**: 53
- **nationalgoals3**: 3