Stefan Ishizaki

Stefan Daisuke Ishizaki (born 15 May 1982) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting off his career with AIK in the late 1990s, he went on to represent Genoa, Vålerenga, and LA Galaxy before retiring at Elfsborg in 2019. A full international between 2001 and 2012, he played 13 games for the Sweden national football team.

Stefan Ishizaki
Stefan Ishizaki in 2015
Personal information
Full name Stefan Daisuke Ishizaki
Date of birth (1982-05-15) 15 May 1982
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder
Number 24
Youth career
Rågsveds IF
AIK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2004 AIK 103 (17)
2004 → Genoa (loan) 4 (0)
2005 Vålerenga IF 15 (2)
2006–2013 IF Elfsborg 183 (48)
2014–2015 LA Galaxy 50 (6)
2015–2017 AIK 59 (6)
2018–2019 IF Elfsborg 47 (3)
National team
1997–1999 Sweden U16 29 (4)
2000 Sweden U18 3 (1)
2001–2004 Sweden U21 21 (5)
2001–2012 Sweden 13 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 May 2018

Club career

AIK

Born to a Swedish mother and a Japanese father, he started his career with Rågsveds IF and stayed with the club until 1999 when he signed a contract with major Swedish club AIK. He made his debut for the club in the same year in Svenska Cupen as he came on as a substitute in the 80th minute against Gefle IF, he later came on as a substitute again in the final, which AIK won 1–0 against IFK Göteborg, making him the youngest in the country to win the Cup, being only 16 years and 364 days old.

His league debut was not until the 2000 season against his future club IF Elfsborg. He quickly established himself as a starting lineup player and really broke through as a player against Helsingborgs IF, a 4–1 victory, scoring a goal and making 2 assists. He missed out the first game of the 2001 season due to an injury he got during the pre-season, which would continue to haunt him for the rest of the season, but he fully recovered for the 2002 season. Prior to the 2004 season he was loaned out to Italian Serie B club Genoa over the spring part of the season, later when AIK was relegated to Superettan he signed with Norwegian club Vålerenga.[1]

Genoa

During the winterbreak of the 2003–04 season Genoa C.F.C. loaned Ishizaki until the end of the season.[2] Ishizaki did not play many games for the club before returning to AIK. Genoa also had an option to buy the player, but it was never used.

Vålerenga

Instead of following AIK down into Superettan, Ishizaki decided to sign with Norwegian club Vålerenga,[3] helping the club to break rival Rosenborg BK 13 straight league wins and bringing the title back to the club for the first time since 1984.

He then left the club, signing for Allsvenska club IF Elfsborg.

Elfsborg

Stefan Ishizaki returned to Sweden prior to the 2006 season, signing for IF Elfsborg.[4] Being a major signing for the coming season, he helped the club to claim the league title at the end of the season.[5]

After his successful first season he remained with Elfsborg, taking a medal every season, gold (1st) in 2006, bronze (4th) in 2007, the Stora Silvret (2nd) in 2008, Lilla Silvret in 2009 (3rd) and bronze (4th) in 2010. Prior to the 2010 season he signed a new 5-year contract with the club.[6]

LA Galaxy
Ishizaki with the Galaxy

Stefan Ishizaki signed with the LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer before camps opened in January for the 2014 season.[7] While at the Galaxy, he won the 2014 MLS Cup where he was a starter in the final.[8] Ishizaki was released by the club on 4 July 2015 so he could return to Sweden to finish his career to be with his expectant wife.[9]

Return to AIK

On 10 July 2015, it was confirmed that Ishizaki signed a 2.5 year deal with AIK.[10] After the 2017 AIK season, Ishizaki left AIK upon the expiration of his contract.[11]

Return to Elfsborg and retirement

Ishizaki signed for Elfsborg on a free transfer ahead of the 2018 Allsvenskan season.[12] At the end of the 2019 season, Ishizaki announced his retirement from professional football.[13]

International career

Born to a Japanese father and a Swedish mother, Ishizaki was eligible to play internationally for both Sweden as well as Japan.[14] In the early 2000s, Ishizaki turned down an offer to represent the Japanese national team.[15] He represented Sweden at the U17, U19, and U21 levels, being a squad player for the Sweden U21 team at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where Sweden was eliminated by the Serbia and Montenegro U21 team in the semifinals after penalty kicks despite Ishizaki successfully converting his penalty kick.[16]

On the senior level Ishizaki won 13 caps but never featured in a major tournament.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of 13 November 2019[18][19]
Club Performance League Cup Other Cups Continental Total
Club Season Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sweden Allsvenskan Svenska Cupen Other Cups UEFA Total
AIK 2000 2130000– 213
2001 18 3 0 0 0 0 – 18 3
2002 25 5 0 0 0 0 4 0 29 5
2003 24 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 28 2
2004 15 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 4
Total 103 17 0 0 0 0 8 0 111 17
Italy Serie B Coppa Italia Other Cups UEFA Total
Genoa (loan) 2003–04 40000 0–40
Total 4 0 0 0 0 0 – 4 0
Norway Tippeligaen Norgesmesterskapet Other Cups UEFA Total
Vålerenga 2005 15 2 0 0 10 2 4 0 29 4
Total 15 2 0 0 10 2 4 0 29 4
Sweden Allsvenskan Svenska Cupen Other Cups UEFA Total
IF Elfsborg 2006 25 4 0 0 7 1 – 32 5
2007 25 8 0 0 1 0 11 1 37 9
2008 21 8 0 0 5 0 2 0 28 8
2009 22 6 1 0 0 0 6 1 29 7
2010 13 6 0 0 0 0 5 2 18 8
2011 25 6 3 0 0 0 5 0 33 6
2012 25 8 0 0 0 0 5 0 30 8
2013 27 2 2 0 0 0 11 0 40 2
Total 183 48 6 0 13 1 45 4 247 53
United States MLS US Open Cup Other Cups CONCACAF Total
LA Galaxy 2014 30 5 2 0 – – 32 5
2015 20 1 0 0 – – 20 1
Total 50 6 2 0 – – 52 6
Sweden Allsvenskan Svenska Cupen Other Cups UEFA Total
AIK 2015 9 1 0 0 – 4 1 13 2
2016 27 4 0 0 – 6 0 33 4
2017 23 1 4 0 – 6 1 33 2
Total 59 6 4 0 0 0 16 2 79 8
IF Elfsborg 2018 26 1 2 0 – – 28 1
2019 21 2 0 0 – – 21 2
Total 47 3 2 0 – – 49 3
Career total 4618310023373657191

Honours

AIK

Vålerenga

IF Elfsborg

LA Galaxy

References
  1. "STEFAN ISHIZAKI – HÖGERMITTFÄLTAREN 2000–04" (in Swedish). aik.se. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  2. "Ishizaki hyrs ut till Genoa" (in Swedish). dn.se. 23 December 2003. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  3. "Stefan Ishizaki till Vålerenga" (in Swedish). fotbolldirekt.com. 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  4. "Ishizaki valde Elfsborg – Årets värvning är klar!" (in Swedish). elfsborg.se. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  5. "Elfsborg klarade pressen och vann SM-guldet" (in Swedish). svenskfotboll.se. 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  6. "Glad Stefan Ishizaki förlänger med IF Elfsborg" (in Swedish). elfsborg.se. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  7. "LA Galaxy sign Swedish midfielder Stefan Ishizaki". Los Angeles Galaxy. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  8. "Stefan Ishizaki Photos Photos: 2014 MLS Cup - New England Revolution v Los Angeles Galaxy". Zimbio. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  9. Jon Arnold [@ArnoldcommaJon] (5 July 2015). "Bruce Arena announces after the match that it was Stefan Ishizaki's last with the club. Has been granted a release" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. "Comeback i AIK för Stefan Ishizaki" (in Swedish). aikfotboll.se. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  11. "Ishizaki bekräftar: Lämnar AIK i vinter". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  12. "Officiellt: Stefan Ishizaki återvänder till Elfsborg: "Ska hjälpa klubben till toppen igen"". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  13. "Ishizakis besked: Avslutar karriären". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  14. "Han får en central roll". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 7 April 2002. ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  15. "Ishizaki nobbade det japanska landslaget: "Känner mig svensk"". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  16. "EM: Sverige utslaget efter straffar — svenskfotboll.se". www2.svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  17. "Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  18. "S. ISHIZAKI". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  19. "Stefan Ishizaki". Elitefootball.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
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