Stefan Ishizaki

Stefan Ishizaki
Personnel
Surname	Stefan Daisuke Ishizaki
birthday	May 15, 1982
place of birth	Stockholm ,  Sweden
position	midfield player
Juniors
Years	station
1987	Djurgårdens IF
1988-1998	Rågsveds IF
1999-2000	AIK Solna
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1998	Rågsveds IF
2000-2003	AIK	88 (13)
2004	→  CFC Genoa  (loan)	4 0(0)
2004	AIK	15 0(4)
2005	Vålerenga IF	15 0(2)
2006-2013	IF Elfsborg	140 (43)
2014-2015	LA Galaxy	54 0(6)
2015-2017	AIK	59 0(6)
2018–	IF Elfsborg	47 0(3)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
2001-2004	Sweden U-21	21 0(5)
2001–2012	Sweden	13 0(0)
1 Only league games are given. Status: 2019

Stefan Daisuke Ishizaki (born May 15, 1982 in Stockholm ) is a Swedish football player . The midfielder , who played 13 international matches for the Swedish national team between 2001 and 2012 , became Swedish, Norwegian and US national champions.

Career

Early years and breakthrough in Sweden

Born to a Japanese and a Swedish son, Ishizaki began playing club football at Djurgårdens IF in 1987 . The following year he left the club and moved within Stockholm to Rågsveds IF . In 1998 he made his debut as a 16-year-old in the men's team of the club, which competed in the fifth division Division 4 Stockholm Södra , and played his way into the youth team of Svenska Fotbollförbundet . As a result, all major Stockholm clubs expressed interest in signing the talent.

Ishizaki decided to accept the offer of the Solna club AIK . In one of the first competitive games of the year, the four-round game in the Swedish National Cup against Gefle IF , he made his debut in the men's team of the club in March 1999. Mainly he played in the sequence in the youth team of the traditional club, but coach Stuart Baxter nominated him for the cup final against IFK Gothenburg in the same year . In the 1-0 success with a goal by Patrick Englund on May 14, 1999 - one day before his 17th birthday - he was substituted on in the 83rd minute of the game, making him the youngest cup winner in the history of the competition.

Ishizaki had to wait a little longer until his debut in the Allsvenskan . On April 10, 2000 he came as a substitute in the 2-1 away win at IF Elfsborg for his first appearance in the Swedish elite series. In the course of the season, the midfielder was able to fight for a regular place and played both in the Swedish U-21 team and in the senior national team . He made his debut in both national teams in 2001, but was only able to fight for a regular place in the junior selection.

Between Italy, Sweden and Norway

After the end of the 2003 season , Ishizaki was given up on loan to the Italian club CFC Genoa until the summer of 2004 . In Serie B , however, he could not convince. After the Italian club failed to use a purchase option, they returned to their old employer after the loan period had expired. This was in the relegation battle, but Ishizaki could not prevent the club's relegation to the Superettan at the end of the season despite his four goals .

Ishizaki then left the Swedish club like his teammates Pa Modou Kah and Håkan Svensson . The next stop in his career was the Norwegian club Vålerenga IF . After Rosenborg BK was able to win the Norwegian championship title in the previous 13 years , he ended this series with his club. Since he could not assert himself permanently in the Tippeligaen , he decided to turn his back on the club after only one season.

Return to Sweden and eight years

Ishizaki returned to the Allsvenskan. The midfielder signed a four-year contract with IF Elfsborg, who paid a fee of 3 million Swedish kronor . There he immediately fought for a regular place and won the Swedish championship with the club in his first season. With eight goals each in the following seasons, he helped the club to regular qualification for the Royal League .

In the 2008 season, Ishizaki just missed the Swedish championship title with his club when he was runner-up with players like Anders Svensson , Fredrik Berglund and Denni Avdić, one point behind Kalmar FF . In the following season he was - apart from an injury-related loss at the beginning of the season - one of the regular players and scored six goals this season. In January 2010 he extended his contract with IF Elfsborg to 2014. The following season was overshadowed by injuries, but scored a good goal rate with six goals this season in 13 games. In the 2011 season he was again a regular player and, with six goals this season, played a decisive role in establishing the club in the field of European Cup places.

Championship in the USA and return to AIK

On January 30, 2014, IF confirmed Elfsborg Ishizaki's move to the US MLS to LA Galaxy . With the Californians he was a regular player over long distances under coach Bruce Arena . In his first season he scored five goals in 30 regular-time appearances and qualified with the team as second in the Western Conference behind Seattle Sounders FC for the championship playoffs. There she moved into the final of the MLS Cup after successes over Real Salt Lake and the Sounders . Ishizaki prepared the 1-0 opening goal by Gyasi Zardes in the final against New England Revolution , but was exchanged together with Robbie Rogers at the beginning of extra time when the score was 1-1 against Dan Gargan and Alan Gordon respectively . His teammate and team captain Robbie Keane scored the winning goal with a right-footed shot to make it 2-1 after extra time.

In the following season Ishizaki was an undisputed regular player, by early July 2015 he had played 20 of the 23 season games that his team had played so far and was third in the table. However, he terminated his contract with the US MLS franchise prematurely in order to be able to return to Sweden with his family.

On July 10, his former club and first professional station, AIK Ishizakis announced the commitment, who signed a contract valid until the end of 2017. Coach Andreas Alm relied directly on the experienced player who, due to an injury, had made nine appearances in the Allsvenskan by the end of the season and finished the season with the club in third place. Even under Alm's successor Rikard Norling , he was one of the regulars, scoring the first competitive goal under the new head coach on the ninth matchday of the 2016 season in a 2-0 win in the Tvillingderbyt against Djurgårdens IF.

successes

• Swedish Cup Winner: 1999
• Norwegian champion: 2005
• Swedish champion: 2006

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Titta - här gör Ishizaki comeback i AIK" - article at aftonbladet.se (accessed on January 22, 2009)
2. ↑ "Ishizaki clear for Vålerenga - men AIK har inte sålt färdigt" - Article at fotbolldirekt.com  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 22, 2009)  
3. ↑ "Ishizaki klar för Elfsborg" - article at aftonbladet.se (accessed on January 22, 2009)
4. ↑ fotbolldirekt.com: "Stefan Ishizaki borta två till sex veckor"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 25, 2010)  
5. ↑ unt.se: “Ishizaki stannar i Elfsborg”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 25, 2010)  
6. ↑ elfsborg.se: "Tack för allt Stefan Ishizaki och lycka till!" ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on February 8, 2014) 
7. ↑ lagalaxy.com: "LA Galaxy and midfielder Stefan Ishizaki mutually part ways" (accessed on September 29, 2016)
8. ↑ aikfotboll.se: "Comeback i AIK för Stefan Ishizaki" ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on September 29, 2016) 

Web links

• Statistics of the games in Sweden