Aya Miyama
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 Miyama starring in the 2011 World Cup | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aya Miyama | ||
| Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Okayama Yunogo Belle | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Yomiuri Menina | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2000 | NTV Beleza | 6 | (2) |
| 2001–2008 | Okayama Yunogo Belle | 110 | (62) |
| 2009 | Los Angeles Sol | 20 | (0) |
| 2009 | → Okayama Yunogo Belle (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2010 | Saint Louis Athletica | 5 | (0) |
| 2010 | Atlanta Beat | 17 | (1) |
| 2010– | Okayama Yunogo Belle | 23 | (13) |
| Total | 187 | (79) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2003– | Japan | 110 | (27) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 November 2011 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 April 2012 (UTC) | |||
Aya Miyama (宮間 あや, Miyama Aya, born 28 January 1985, in Ōamishirasato, Chiba) is a Japanese football midfielder who currently plays for Okayama Yunogo Belle of the L. League. She is also a member of the Japan's national team that won the 2011 Women's World Cup.
Club career
Early career
Miyama started her career as a football player in the club her father founded. She later joined NTV Beleza in 1999 after playing with Yomiuri Menina (NTV Menina), but when she was in eleventh grade, she left the team and went to the high school football club. Even among male players, she kept playing football.
Miyama joined L. League side Okayama Yunogo Belle in 2001, having received an invitation from Midori Honda, the coach.
WPS
On November 24, 2008, Miyama was selected by Los Angeles Sol of the U.S. Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in the 2008 WPS International Draft, and joined Sol in 2009. In the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, she had 6 assists but no goals. When the Sol disbanded in early 2010, she was taken by Saint Louis Athletica. Miyama signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Beat on June 10, 2010.
Return to Japan
Miyama returned to Okayama Yunogo Belle in September 2010.
International career
In the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup held in Shanghai, China, Miyama performed brilliantly in Japan's match against England, scoring the team's two goals both on direct free kicks, leading Japan to a draw. In Japan's first group stage match of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, she scored the go-ahead goal in Japan's win against New Zealand on a scorching 68th minute free kick, and was named Player of the Match.
At the 2011 Women's World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany, Miyama scored the winner - a curling free kick - to help Japan beat New Zealand, and netted Japan's first goal in the final against USA. Miyama also scored Japan's first penalty of the eventual penalty shoot-out in the final which ended 2–2 after extra time. Her team won 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out, making Japan the first Asian team to lift the FIFA Women's World Cup.
At the moment of victory, Miyama did not join her teammates in celebration, but instead went to the USA players to hug them and congratulate them on a good game. This has been reported both by Hope Solo and the Japanese media as evidence of Miyama's sportsmanship and respect for her opponents.
Miyama was named the AFC Women's Player of the Year in 2011[1]
Career statistics
Club career
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Other[2] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| NTV Beleza | 1999 | 0 | 0 | - | |||||||
| 2000 | 6 | 2 | - | - | |||||||
| Total | 6 | 2 | - | ||||||||
| Okayama Yunogo Belle | 2003 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 18 | 14 | ||
| 2004 | 14 | 17 | - | - | |||||||
| 2005 | 21 | 8 | 4 | 4 | - | - | 25 | 12 | |||
| 2006 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 21 | 16 | |||
| 2007 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 23 | 9 | ||
| 2008 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 23 | 10 | |||
| Total | 110 | 62 | 0 | 0 | - | ||||||
| Los Angeles Sol | 2009 | 20 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Total | 20 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | |||
| Okayama Yunogo Belle | 2009 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 3 | ||
| Total | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 3 | |||
| Saint Louis Athletica | 2010 | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Atlanta Beat | 2010 | 17 | 1 | - | - | - | 17 | 1 | |||
| Total | 17 | 1 | - | - | - | 17 | 1 | ||||
| Okayama Yunogo Belle | 2010 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 9 | 4 | |
| 2011 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 19 | 10 | |||
| Total | 23 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 18 | 14 | ||
| Career total | 187 | 79 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
International Goals
Honors
- Team
- Champion (1): 2011
- Gold Medal (1): 2010
- Individual
- All-Star Team (1): 2011
- AFC Women's Player of the Year
- Winner (1): 2011
- 3rd place (1): 2008
- Best Player (1): 2012
- L. League Division 1
- Best 11 (3): 2007, 2008, 2011
- L. League Division 2
- Best Player (1): 2004
- Top Scorers (1): 2004
References
External links
- Aya Miyama – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Japan Football player profile
- Los Angeles Sol player profile
| AFC award |
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|---|---|
| AFC award (international) |
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Template:Okayama Yunogo Belle Squad
Japan Squad | |||||||||||||||||||
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- 1985 births
- Living people
- 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture
- Association football people from Chiba Prefecture
- Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Japanese women's footballers
- Japan women's international footballers
- Los Angeles Sol players
- Olympic footballers of Japan
- Saint Louis Athletica players
- Atlanta Beat (WPS) players
- FIFA Century Club