is a Japanese football coach and former player who played as a forward. He was the J.League Top Scorer and J.League Best XI in 2009 and 2010.

He currently works as an assistant coach for the Japan national team.

Club career Maeda was born in Kobe, Japan but spent his childhood in the United States. He was educated at and played for Gyosei Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo. While he was a high school student, he was chosen as one of the Designated Players for Development by J.League and JFA. Because of this status, Maeda was able to register as a Verdy Kawasaki player while he was still eligible to play for his high school club. However, he did not play any official match for Verdy.

After graduating from his high school in 2000, he joined Júbilo Iwata. His first appearance as a professional player came on 3 May 2000 in a league match against Kawasaki Frontale. His first professional goal came on 28 August 2001 in a J.League Cup game against JEF United Ichihara. Although he could not play many matches behind Masashi Nakayama and Naohiro Takahara until 2002, he played as regular player from 2003. In the season 2009 was the J.League Top Scorer with twenty goals. In the 2010 season, Maeda became the top scorer again, netting 17 times. Júbilo also won the champions in 2010 J.League Cup. At 2010 J.League Cup Final, he scored two goals and was selected MVP award in the tournament. However Júbilo was relegated to J2 League end of 2013 season. In 2014, although he scored 17 goals, Júbilo finished at the 4th place and missed promotion to J1.

In 2015, Maeda moved to J1 club FC Tokyo. He played as regular player until 2016. However his opportunity to play decreased from 2017 and he could hardly score goals in the match.

In 2019, Maeda moved to J2 club FC Gifu.FC Gifu

Curse of Maeda Since the 2007 season, for six straight seasons, each team Maeda scores his first goal of the league campaign against has eventually been relegated to J2 League. This has given rise to the so-called "curse of (Ryoichi) Maeda".The curse of Ryoichi Maeda Goal.com 26 September 2012 retrieved 4 December 2012 It became a topic of wide public conversation in late 2012 as Gamba Osaka, the team that he scored his first goal of that season against, was in the relegation zone despite having not ranked lower than third in the previous three seasons. Consistent with the "curse", Gamba Osaka was relegated to J2 following the last game of the season in which they lost against, funnily enough, Jubilo Iwata 2–1 with Maeda scoring a goal and an assist. The curse came to an end by the end of the 2013 season, as Maeda's first goal of the 2013 season came in a loss to Urawa, who will not be relegated.

International career Maeda played for Japan U20 at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina. He also played for Japan U23 at the 2004 Summer Olympics qualification but failed to be picked up to the squad for the finals in Greece.

After impressive performance at club, Maeda made his international debut for Japan in a friendly against Cameroon on 22 August 2007 at Oita Stadium.Japan National Football Team Database He scored his first international goal on 17 October 2007 in a friendly against Egypt at Nagai Stadium in Osaka. In 2011, Maeda participated in his first major full international tournament at 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar and started all six games in Japan's Asian Cup winning campaign. He was selected Japan for 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He played 33 games and scored 10 goals for Japan until 2013.

Career statistics

Club FC Gifu

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueEmperor's CupJ.League CupAsiaTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsJúbilo Iwata2000J1 League103000–402001922151–1642002403120–9120032875195–421320042785361314113200525120022303014200627153271–3718200722122100–241320082280000–228200934202163–42242010331710103–4420201128140031–3115201233131142–381620133392141–39112014J2 League371700––3717Total3631542912582061456187FC Tokyo2015J1 League3092160–3810201629610308341920172611071–34220181810010–191Total10317411718313222FC Tokyo U-232017J3 League20–––20201883–––83Total103–––103Career total47617433137521144598212

International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsJapan200721200811200920201020201194201284201390Total3310

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Maeda goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Ryoichi MaedaNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 17 October 2007 Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan 3–0 4–1 2007 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations2 17 February 2008 Olympic Sports Center, Chongqing, China 1–1 1–1 East Asian Football Championship 20083 17 January 2011 Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar 3–0 5–0 2011 AFC Asian Cup4 4–05 25 January 2011 Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–1 2–2 2011 AFC Asian Cup6 11 November 2011 Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe, Tajikistan 3–0 4–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification7 24 February 2012 Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan 1–0 3–1 Friendly8 3 June 2012 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan 2–0 3–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification9 8 June 2012 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan 1–0 6–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification10 11 September 2012 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan 1–0 1–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours Júbilo Iwata J1 League: 2002 J.League Cup: 2010 Japanese Super Cup: 2003

Japan AFC Asian Cup: 2011 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 2007

Individual Asian Young Footballer of the Year: 2000 J.League Top Scorer: 2009, 2010 J.League Best XI: 2009, 2010 J.League Cup MVP: 2010

References

External links

Japan National Football Team Database