 Uchida with Schalke in 2011. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Atsuto Uchida | ||
| Date of birth | 27 March 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Kannami, Shizuoka, Japan | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Right back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Schalke 04 | ||
| Number | 22 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2005 | Shimizu Higashi High School | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006–2010 | Kashima Antlers | 124 | (3) |
| 2010– | Schalke 04 | 81 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2005–2007 | Japan U20 | 12 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Japan U23 | 8 | (0) |
| 2008– | Japan | 61 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 November 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 August 2013 | |||
Atsuto Uchida (内田 篤人 Uchida Atsuto, born 27 March 1988) is a Japanese footballer, who plays forBundesliga club Schalke 04 and the Japan national football team as a right back.
Club career
Uchida was educated at and played for Shimizu Higashi High School prior to joining the Kashima Antlers in 2006.[1] On 5 March 2006, he debuted for Kashima at the age of 17 in the season-opener against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, since which he has remained a fixture in the starting eleven. His first goal as a professional footballer came on 21 March 2006 when he scored against Ventforet Kofu. He was also selected by popular vote to play in the 2006 J. League All-Star Soccer game. On 13 June 2010, German club FC Schalke 04announced that they had signed the Japanese international to a three-year contract.[2] On 13 April 2011 he became the first Japanese footballer to play for a team that reached the semi-finals of the Champion's League. On September 18th, 2013, he scored his first goal in the Champions League in a 3-0 win against Steaua Bucuresti.
International career
He represented Japan at several underage levels. He was part of the Japan team for the 2006 AFC Youth Championship finals hosted by India and Japan finished runners-up. He also took part in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup finals hosted by Canada.
In 2006, he received an international call-up from national coach Ivica Osim but did not play any game. He finally made a full international debut for Japan on 26 January 2008 in a friendly against Chile at National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. This was the first match under the reign of new manager Takeshi Okada. On 6 February 2008 he played 90 minutes for Japan in a 4–1 win against Thailand and became the first teenage Japanese footballer to play FIFA World Cup qualification after the establishment of the J. League in 1993. On 22 June 2008 he scored the winner in a 1–0 win against Bahrain.[3] It was his first international goal and he became the youngest Japanese goalscorer in FIFA World Cup qualification at age 20 years and 87 days, beating an 11-year-old record that was held by Hidetoshi Nakata.
He was a member of the Japan team for the 2008 Summer Olympics finals
