Koki Mizuno


Koki Mizuno is a Japanese football player who plays for SC Sagamihara in J3 League.
Mizuno began his professional career with JEF United Chiba, with whom he won the J.League Cup in 2005 and 2006; he was named most valuable player of the 2006 competition. His other former clubs include Ventforet Kofu, Kashiwa Reysol, and Scottish side Celtic.
Mizuno has 4 caps for the Japan national team, including two appearances as a substitute at the 2007 Asian Cup. As a youth, Mizuno also appeared in the 2005 World Youth Championship as a member of the Japanese Under-20 team, scoring one goal.
He is the cousin of Keita Suzuki, also a footballer.

Club career

JEF United Chiba

After graduating from Shimizu Commercial High School, Mizuno joined JEF United Ichihara in 2004. He was the MVP of the 2006 J.League Cup competition.

Celtic

's interest was confirmed by chief executive Peter Lawwell in January 2008 who explained that the club planned on signing Mizuno, if he was granted a work permit.
After initially being denied a permit, Gordon Strachan took part in an appeal hearing in which he described his other Japanese import Shunsuke Nakamura as a "flawless performer" and "The best player I have ever worked with, and that includes Dalglish and McAllister", and claimed that Mizuno was a young player of immense talent and potential. The appeal was successful and Celtic completed the signing of Koki Mizuno on 29 January 2008. On 18 July 2008, Mizuno made his debut in a 2–0 pre-season friendly win over Southampton. On 8 November, he made his league debut for Celtic in a 2–0 victory over Motherwell, replacing Scott McDonald in the 88th minute and, on 21 December 2008, he made his first start in a game against Falkirk. He scored his first goal for Celtic in the 90th minute of the match, assisted by a pass from Shunsuke Nakamura. On 1 July 2010, Mizuno was released by Celtic.

Kashiwa Reysol

In the summer of 2010, Mizuno signed for J2 League side Kashiwa Reysol. In his first game for Kashiwa, he suffered a knee ligament injury which sidelined him for the rest of the 2010 season.

International career

Mizuno was a member of the Japan team for 2005 World Youth Championship where he scored a goal against Benin. His first cap as a full international came when he substituted Naohiro Takahara on 24 March 2007 in a friendly against Peru. He was a member of the Japan team for 2007 Asian Cup and played two games as a substitute.

Club statistics

Updated to 23 February 2017.

National team statistics

Honours

;JEF United Chiba
;Celtic
;Individual