Shintaro Harada

Shintaro Harada

Personal information
Full name	Shintaro Harada
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s)	Defender/Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Number	21
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2001	Yokohama F. Marinos	19	(1)
2002	Omiya Ardija	2	(0)
2003–2005	Tokushima Vortis	55	(3)
2005–2006	ALO's Hokuriku	41	(0)
2007–2009	Crystal Palace Baltimore	65	(1)
2010–	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	37	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of June 10, 2011

Shintaro Harada (Japanese: 原田慎太郎) (born November 8, 1980 in Sayama, Saitama) is a Japanese footballer. He currently plays for Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the USL Professional Division.

Career

Japan

‘Shin’ as he is known, started his professional career as a 19-year-old for Yokohama F. Marinos when their then manager Ossie Ardiles handed him his debut. Shin continued in the team that season, playing against international legends such as Bebeto and helped guide his team to their first League Championship (Stage 1). Shin played alongside Japanese national hero Shunsuke Nakamura, who also started his career at Yokohoma. In 2002 acquired by Omiya Ardija and then Tokushima Vortis.

He played part of the 2005 season and all of the 2006 season for ALO's Hokuriku of the Japan Football League in Japan. After successful spells in J-League Shin decided to move abroad in 2007 and entered the open trials for the newly-formed Crystal Palace Baltimore in the USL Second Division, arriving with a little bit of English and his boots.

United States

In his first season in Baltimore, Harada was named to the USL Second Division All-League Second-Team, and followed that up by being named in the USL Second Division All-League First-Team in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Harada has become USL-2 All-League regular by making his fourth consecutive appearance on an All-League team. He was also the Most Valuable Defender finalist in 2009, and earned that award in 2010. He is nominated as 2010 USL Second Division Most Valuable Player.

During the 2008 off-season, several Major League Soccer clubs showed interest in him, and invited to take part in their trials such by Chicago Fire, Real Salt Lake, and San Jose Earthquakes, but due to injury had to return to Palace for the 2009 season.

Following his impressive performances in the 2009 season, Harada went on trial at Baltimore's English parent club, Crystal Palace.

After an unheard 3 months of training with Crystal Palace F.C., he was selected as the "Palace's Other Player Of The Year" on Crystal Palace F.C.'s official club magazine, and featured also on Major League Soccer's expansion team Philadelphia Union's official website as a strong candidate for the club's tryout.

On March 22, 2010, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced the signing of Harada to a contract for the 2010 season.

While in the second division, Harada won the league's Best 11 for 4 consecutive years. He re-signed with Pittsburgh, now playing in the USL Pro league, on February 21, 2011.

Club career statistics

Template:Football player club statistics 1 Template:Football player club statistics 2 |- |1999||rowspan="3"|Yokohama F. Marinos||rowspan="3"|J. League 1||0||0||0||0||1||0||1||0 |- |2000||16||1||0||0||2||0||18||1 |- |2001||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |2002||Omiya Ardija||J. League 2||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||2||0 |- |2003||rowspan="2"|Otsuka Pharmaceuticals||rowspan="2"|Football League||27||1||3||0||colspan="2"|-||30||1 |- |2004||22||2||1||0||colspan="2"|-||23||2 |- |2005||Tokushima Vortis||J. League 2||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||2||0 |- |2005||rowspan="2"|ALO's Hokuriku||rowspan="2"|Football League||11||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||14||0 |- |2006||27||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||27||0 Template:Football player club statistics 2 |- |2007||rowspan="3"|Crystal Palace Baltimore||rowspan="3"|USL Second Division||20||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||21||0 |- |2008||19||1||4||0||colspan="2"|-||23||0 |- |2009||20||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||21||0 |- |2010||rowspan="3"|Pittsburgh Riverhounds||rowspan="3"|USL PRO||17||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||18||0 |- |2011||18||2||1||0||colspan="2"|-||19||2 |- |2012||||||||||colspan="2"|-|||| Template:Football player club statistics 3107||4||7||0||3||0||117||4 Template:Football player club statistics 496||3||8||0||colspan="2"|-||104||3 Template:Football player club statistics 5201||7||15||0||3||0||221||7 |}

Playing style

Proved as a quality utility player who plays both holding midfielder, and center defender by being selected to All-League First-Team for both positions. Known for his accurate distribution, and play making in the middle as the control tower. Admires the Mexican National Team's Rafael Márquez, and FC Barcelona's Josep Guardiola.

Honors and awards

Personal

• 2010 - USL Second Division Most Valuable Player Finalist
• 2010 - USL Second Division Most Valuable Defender
• 2010 - USL Second Division All-League First Team
• 2009 - Crystal Palace F.C.: "Palace's Other Player Of The Year"
• 2009 - USL Second Division All-League First-Team
• 2009 - USL Second Division Most Valuable Defender Finalist
• 2008 - USL Second Division All-League First-Team
• 2007 - USL Second Division All-League Second-Team

Team

• 2000 - Yokohama F. Marinos - J-League Stage 1 Champion

External links

• Pittsburgh Riverhounds player profile
• Crystal Palace Baltimore player profile
• SOCCER TRANSITION - Made In Japan