Kenichi Uemura

Kenichi Uemura
上村健一
Personal information
Full name	Kenichi Uemura
Date of birth	April 22, 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth	Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1990–1992	Matsunaga High School
Senior career*
Years	Team
1993–2003	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
2004	Cerezo Osaka
2005–2006	Tokyo Verdy
2006	YSCC Yokohama
2007–2008	Roasso Kumamoto
Total
International career
1996	Japan U-23
2001	Japan
Managerial career
2019	Kamatamare Sanuki
2024–	China U-17
Medal record
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Representing Japan
FIFA Confederations Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kenichi Uemura (上村健一, Uemura Kenichi, born April 22, 1974) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team.

Club career

Uemura was born in Yatsushiro on April 22, 1974. After graduating from Matsunaga High School, he joined J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 1993. He broke into the first team in the first season. His first league appearance came on July 4, 1993 against Verdy Kawasaki at Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium. He scored his first professional goal on July 24, 1993 against Urawa Reds at Hiroshima Stadium. He played in many matches as defender from his first season, except at times when he was injured.

After 11 year's long service at Sanfrecce Hiroshima, he moved to Cerezo Osaka in 2004, then Tokyo Verdy (2005–2006). After a brief spell at YSCC Yokohama, he joined Rosso Kumamoto (later Roasso Kumamoto) in 2007. He damaged his knee ligaments three times and experienced seven operations. These injuries have affected his form. Uemura retired from professional football after the 2008 season.

National team career

He represented the Japan U-23 national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He played in 2 matches. He scored a goal in a group stage match against Hungary. Although Japan won 2 matches, Japan exited in the first round. Japan beat Brazil in their first game. It was known as the "Miracle of Miami" (マイアミの奇跡) in Japan.

In April 2001, Uemura was selected by the Japan national team. National team manager Philippe Troussier gave him his first full international cap on April 25 in a friendly against Spain in Córdoba. He was a member of the Japan team for the 2001 Confederations Cup. He played three games and Japan won second place. He played 4 games for Japan in 2001.^[1]

Coaching career

After the retirement, Uemura started coaching career at J2 League club Roasso Kumamoto in 2009. In 2013, he moved to J2 club Kamatamare Sanuki and served as coach under manager Makoto Kitano. However the club was relegated to J3 League end of 2018 season. In 2019, Uemura became a manager as Kitano successor.^[2]

Club statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Total
1993	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	J1 League	17	1	2	0	6	0	25	1
1994			26	0	2	0	1	0	29	0
1995			46	4	4	0	-		50	4
1996			12	2	0	0	7	0	19	2
1997			3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
1998			17	0	3	0	0	0	20	0
1999			29	7	5	1	4	1	38	9
2000			28	6	2	0	3	0	33	6
2001			25	2	2	0	5	0	32	2
2002			10	1	4	0	0	0	14	1
2003		J2 League	38	0	4	0	-		42	0
2004	Cerezo Osaka	J1 League	15	0	0	0	6	0	21	0
2005	Tokyo Verdy	J1 League	18	0	1	0	4	0	23	0
2006	Tokyo Verdy	J2 League	1	0	0	0	-		1	0
2006	YSCC Yokohama	Regional Leagues	0	0	-		-		0	0
2007	Rosso Kumamoto	Football League	30	3	1	0	-		31	3
2008	Roasso Kumamoto	J2 League	28	0	0	0	-		28	0
Total			343	26	30	1	36	1	409	28