Yuki Abe

For footballer, born 1989, see Yuki Abe (footballer, born 1989).

Yuki Abe (阿部 勇樹, Abe Yūki, born 6 September 1981) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.^[2] He played 53 times for Japan between 2005 and 2011 and was a member of the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.^[3]

Yuki Abe
阿部 勇樹

Abe playing for Leicester City in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Yuki Abe^[1]
Date of birth	(1981-09-06) 6 September 1981 (age 42)^[1]
Place of birth	Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)^[1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1997–1998	JEF United Ichihara
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2006	JEF United Chiba	214	(36)
2007–2010	Urawa Red Diamonds	120	(14)
2010–2012	Leicester City	52	(2)
2012–2022	Urawa Red Diamonds	256	(25)
Total		642	(77)
International career
2000	Japan U-20	2	(2)
2002–2004	Japan U-23	13	(3)
2005–2011	Japan	53	(3)
Medal record JEF United Chiba Winner J.League Cup 2005 Winner J.League Cup 2006 Runner-up J.League Cup 1998 Urawa Reds Winner AFC Champions League 2007 Winner AFC Champions League 2017 Runner-up J1 League 2007 Runner-up J1 League 2014 Runner-up J1 League 2016 Winner J.League Cup 2016 Runner-up J.League Cup 2013 Winner Emperor's Cup 2018 Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2015 Representing  Japan Asian Games 2002 Busan Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

JEF United Chiba

Born in Ichikawa, Chiba, Abe, then a member of the JEF United Ichihara (now JEF United Chiba) youth side, made his debut with the senior club at the age of 16 years and 333 days on 5 August 1998, at the time a record for the youngest Japanese professional player and J1 League. He went on to become JEF United's captain, and led the club to the 2005 and 2006 J.League Cup titles while being named to the league's Best Eleven during the span.

Urawa Reds

 

Abe (right) playing for Urawa Reds in 2007

On 22 January 2007, Abe joined Urawa Reds, the defending J1 League and Emperor's Cup champions, for a transfer fee of around ¥360 million (around $3 million), a record amount for a Japanese player in a domestic deal.^[4]

Abe helped Urawa Reds to win the 2007 AFC Champions League. He scored once in the second leg of the final against Iran's Sepahan FC.^[5] Abe participated in the 2007 Club World Cup playing for Urawa who eventually lost to AC Milan. Urawa finished in third place.

Leicester City

 

Abe in his final season with Leicester City on 25 September 2011

On 26 August 2010, Abe was signed by English Championship club Leicester City,^[6] signing a three-year contract.^[7] He made his debut in a 2-1 league win over Cardiff City on 14 September,^[8] scoring his first goal for the club in a 4-2 win over Ipswich Town on 7 May 2011.^[9] His last league goal for the club was in a 1-0 win over Brighton on 17 September 2011.^[10] Suffering from homesickness, Abe's contract was cancelled by mutual consent on 22 January 2012 and he returned to Japan to re-join former club Urawa Reds.^[11]

Urawa Reds

In 2012, Abe returned to Urawa Reds. He played all matches in J1 League except for one match in 2013 season until 2016 season.^[12][13] In 2016, Reds won the champions in J.League Cup and the 2nd place in J1 League. He was also selected Best Eleven award.^[14] In 2017, Reds won the champions in AFC Champions League for the first time in 10 years. In 2018, Reds won the Emperor's Cup.

On 14 November 2021, Abe announced that he would retire from football at the end of the 2021 season.^[15][16]

International career

Abe made his senior national team debut on 29 January 2005, in a friendly match against Kazakhstan and scored his first national team goal on 6 September 2006 against Yemen in a 2007 Asian Cup qualification match. He was not selected to Japan's 2006 World Cup team, but he has become a regular under his former JEF United coach Ivica Osim, who took over as the national team head coach after the World Cup. He had previously represented Japan at the Under-20 and Under-23 levels, appearing in all three first round matches at the 2004 Olympics and scoring a goal against Italy. He appeared in all of Japan's games at the 2010 World Cup. Despite missing out on Japan's 2011 Asian Cup victory, on 29 March 2011 he played 45 minutes against the J-League All Stars. On 4 August 2011 Abe was announced in the Japan squad to play South Korea. He played 53 games and scored 3 goals for Japan until 2011.^[17]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[18][19]

Club	Season	League			National cup^[a]		League cup^[b]		Continental^[c]		Other^[d]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
JEF United Ichihara	1998	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
JEF United Chiba	2005		33	12	1	0	10	5	–		–		44	17
	2006		33	11	1	0	8	2	–		3	1	45	14
	Total		214	36	15	2	36	8	–		3	1	268	47
Urawa Reds	2007	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
	Total		120	14	2	0	7	1	16	3	6	0	151	18
Leicester City	2010/11	Championship	36	1	2	0	2	0	–		–		40	1
	2011/12		16	1	1	0	2	0	–		–		19	1
	Total		52	2	3	0	4	0	–		–		59	2
Urawa Reds	2012	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
	Total		252	25	15	2	33	4	34	1	1	1	341	33
Career total			638	77	35	4	80	13	50	4	16	2	819	100

1. Includes Emperor's Cup and FA Cup.
2. Includes J.League Cup and Football League Cup.
3. Includes AFC Champions League.
4. Includes Japanese Super Cup, A3 Champions Cup, Suruga Bank Championship, J.League Championship and FIFA Club World Cup.

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[20]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2005	5	0
	2006	8	1
	2007	11	1
	2008	9	0
	2009	8	1
	2010	9	0
	2011	3	0
Total		53	3

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

List of international goals scored by Yuki Abe

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 August 2006	Niigata Stadium, Niigata, Japan	Yemen		2–0	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2	25 July 2007	Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam	Saudi Arabia		2–3	2007 AFC Asian Cup Semifinals
3	27 May 2009	Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan	Chile		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

References

1. (PDF). FIFA. 29 November 2017. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2017.
2. Yuki Abe at J.League () (in Japanese)  
3. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Yūki Abe (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
4. "Abe makes record switch to Japan's Urawa Reds". Reuters. 22 January 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
5. (in English) Reds rule Asia / Sink Sepahan to become 1st J.League club to win ACL, earn Club World Cup berth
6. "Japan midfielder Yuki Abe completes Leicester City move". BBC Sport. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
7. "Leicester City new boy Yuki Abe brushes up on his history". this is Leicestershire. 17 September 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
8. "Leicester 2 – 1 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
9. "Leicester 4 – 2 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
10. Leicester 1-0 Brighton, BBC Sport, 17 September 2011, retrieved 10 March 2012
11. "Yuki Abe leaves Leicester City for return to Japan". BBC Sport. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
12. Yuki Abe at J.League () (in Japanese)  
13. J.League
14. J.League
15. "Former Japan and Leicester midfielder to retire". Japan Times. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
16. Abbott, Matt (15 November 2021). "Leicester City title-winning hero sends retirement message". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
17. Japan National Football Team Database
18. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 59 out of 289)
19. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 19 out of 289)
20. Yuki Abe at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yuki Abe.

• – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Yuki Abe at National-Football-Teams.com  
• Yuki Abe at Soccerway  
• Yuki Abe at Soccerbase  
• Yuki Abe at J.League () (in Japanese)  
• Japan National Football Team Database