Shoji Jo

Shoji Jo

Personal information
Full name	Shoji Jo
Date of birth	(1975-06-17) June 17, 1975
Place of birth	Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1996	JEF United Ichihara	99	(35)
1997–2001	Yokohama F. Marinos	106	(59)
1999–2000	→Real Valladolid (loan)	15	(2)
2002	Vissel Kobe	25	(1)
2003–2006	Yokohama FC	151	(44)
Total		396	(141)
National team
1996	Japan U-23	3	(0)
1995–2001	Japan	35	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Shoji Jo (城 彰二, Jō Shōji, born June 17, 1975) is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.

Career

He was born on the island of Hokkaido and began his footballing career with JEF United Ichihara in 1994. He quickly established himself, scoring twelve goals in his first season; he scored his first goal on his debut against Gamba Osaka on 12 March. He made his international debut the following September in a friendly match against Paraguay.

After three seasons with JEF United Ichihara, Jo moved to the Yokohama Marinos in 1997. His performances in the 1998-99 season led to a loan move to the Spanish Primera División team Real Valladolid. He failed to make an impact with the club, making just 15 appearances and scoring two goals before sustaining a knee injury. After his return to Japan, Jo struggled to reestablish himself as a regular goal scorer with the Marinos and Vissel Kobe, with whom he joined in 2002. He joined Yokohama FC in 2003, where he scored 12 goals in his first season with them. He helped his club to become J2 Champions in 2006 gained and promotion to J1, but he retired from playing after that season.

Jo made 35 caps and scored 7 goals for Japan national team from 1995 to 2001.^[1] He made his first appearance in an international competition with the under-23 team in the 1996 Olympic Games. He later played in the 1998 World Cup and the Copa America in 1999.^[1]

He is currently working on television as a football commentator. (as of October 2008)

Club statistics

National team

• 1996 Asian Cup
• 1998 FIFA World Cup

National team statistics

References

External links

• National Football Teams
• Japan National Football Team Database
• Player statistics at J.League Data Site (Japanese)
• Soccer in Japan, Retrieved 11 October 2005
• FootballDatabase, Retrieved 11 October 2005

Japan men's football squad – 1996 Summer Olympics
1 Kawaguchi 2 Shirai 3 Suzuki 4 Hironaga 5 Tanaka 6 Hattori 7 Maezono 8 Ito 9 Jo 10 Endō 11 Morioka 12 Uemura 13 Matsuda 14 Nakata 15 Akiba 16 Matsubara 17 Michiki 18 Shimoda Coach: Nishino

Japan squad – 1996 AFC Asian Cup
1 Kojima 2 Yanagimoto 3 Soma 4 Ihara 5 Omura 6 Yamaguchi 7 Honda 8 Maezono 9 Takagi 10 Nanami 11 Miura 12 Michiki 13 Hattori 14 Okano 15 Morishima 16 Saito 17 Akita 18 Jo 19 Shimokawa 20 Narazaki Coach: Kamo

Japan squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Kojima 2 Narahashi 3 Soma 4 Ihara (c) 5 Omura 6 Yamaguchi 7 Ito 8 Nakata 9 Nakayama 10 Nanami 11 Ono 12 Lopes 13 Hattori 14 Okano 15 Morishima 16 Saito 17 Akita 18 Jo 19 Nakanishi 20 Kawaguchi 21 Narazaki 22 Hirano Coach: Okada

Japan squad – 1999 Copa América
1 Kawaguchi 2 Saito 3 Soma 4 Ihara 5 Akita 6 Hattori 7 Ito 8 Mochizuki 9 Yoshihara 10 Nanami 11 Lopes 12 Jo 13 Fujita 14 Suzuki 15 Tasaka 16 Oku 17 Morioka 18 Ando 19 Miura 20 Narazaki 21 Okano 22 Fukunishi Coach: Troussier