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Risa Shimizu
清水 梨紗

Shimizu with Japan in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Risa Shimizu
Date of birth	(1996-06-15) June 15, 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Manchester City
Number	2
Youth career
2009–2012	Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2022	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	165	(4)
2022–2024	West Ham United	44	(1)
2024–	Manchester City	0	(0)
International career
2012	Japan U-17	4	(1)
2018–	Japan	79	(4)
Medal record Representing  Japan AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 Jordan Asian Games 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Team AFC U-19 Women's Championship 2015 China AFC U-16 Women's Championship 2011 China
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:46, 22 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:37, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Risa Shimizu (清水 梨紗, Shimizu Risa, born June 15, 1996) is a Japanese professional football player who plays as a right-back for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the Japan national team.

Born and raised in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Shimizu played youth football for Tokyo Verdy Beleza and subsequently began her professional career with the club in 2013. Shimizu moved to West Ham United in 2022.

She made her senior international debut for the Japan national team in 2018 and has since won 73 caps.

Early life and career

Shimizu was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture on June 15, 1996. She began playing football aged seven years old, influenced by her two years older sister. Her family moved to Yokohama, in Kanagawa Prefecture the following year, and she joined local club FC Susukino Ladies. By the time she was ten, Shimizu was a prolific striker for her team in national junior competitions.

In 2009, aged 12, she was accepted into Menina, the nation's top youth academy of the club she would later play for, Tokyo Verdy Beleza. She initially played as a forward but was gradually converted into a midfielder, and eventually settled on the fullback position which she would specialise. While at the academy, she befriended and rose through the ranks with fellow players such as Yui Hasegawa and Yuka Momiki, all of whom would go on to play for the Japan national team together.

In addition to football, Shimizu was a talented runner from an early age and had competed in statewide marathon competitions at elementary level.

Club career

Tokyo Verdy Beleza

Having progressed through the youth set-up of Tokyo Verdy Beleza, the club with the most number of titles in the top flight of women's football in Japan, Shimizu was promoted to the senior team at the age of seventeen. On 23 March 2013, she made her debut in the Nadeshiko League against FC Kibi IU Charme. She established herself as the first choice right-back in her first professional season, making 24 appearances in all competitions.

She scored her first goal for the club on 15 June 2014, in a match against the same opponents she made her debut with. In the 2015 Nadeshiko League season, Shimizu played in every single league game and was one of the key figures who led the team to win the championship that year, ending a five-year drought for the domestic title. In the years since, she has won multiple trophies with Beleza; including five successive domestic titles, five Empress's Cup, three Nadeshiko League Cup and the inaugural AFC Women's Club Championship. She had won the domestic triple crown with Beleza, having done so in consecutive year in the 2018 and 2019 season.

One of the most consistent performers in the league, Shimizu was first chosen to the Nadeshiko League Best XI in the 2017 season and has since been selected for five consecutive seasons, including the first inaugural WE League season after the league was revamped and turned fully professional. In 2020, she was named captain of the club. In August 2022, Shimizu left Tokyo Verdy Beleza after almost a decade with the club

West Ham United

On 28 August 2022, Shimizu signed a two-year contract with English club West Ham United. She made her competitive debut for the club on 19 September 2022 in a 1-0 win over Everton. She would quickly established herself as a key player to the squad, playing in all but one match across all competition and starting in all 22 league matches for the club. She would end up ranking second in total minutes for West Ham United among all players during the 2022–23 season. She scored her first goal for the club on 21 January 2024 in the 3-4 loss against Tottenham Hotspur. Her departure from the club was announced on 30 June that year.

Manchester City

On 12 July 2024, Shimizu signed a three-year contract with Manchester City. On 12 September 2024, Manchester City announced that she had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

International career

Shimizu was first called up to a training camp for the Japan U-14 national team in 2010. The next year, she participated in the 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship held in Nanjing, China. In 2012, she was selected to the Japan U-17 national team for 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, where she scored in a group stage win against Mexico.

She received her first senior cap for the Japan national team on 22 October 2017, in a 2–0 win against Switzerland in the MS&AD Cup. At the 2018 Algarve Cup, she played in her first international tournament at senior level, coming on as a substitute against the Netherlands. Shimizu cemented her place as the starting right-back for the national team that same year, starting all the matches in Japan's victorious 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup run where they defeated Australia 1–0 in the final to win their second consecutive title. This success was followed by a gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games, where Japan emerged champions of yet another closely contested final, with a 90th-minute goal at the death to win 1–0 over China.

She was selected to Japan's squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France and the 2020 Summer Olympics in her home country. She started all matches and played full games in both tournaments.

Shimizu was also part of Japan's squad that won the EAFF East Asian Football Championship in 2019 and 2022, and she was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament in the latter, as Japan went undefeated in the competition.

On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.

On August 8, she scored her first World Cup goal against Norway in the first round of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup knockout stage, contributing to advance to the quarterfinals.

Shimizu was selected for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and played in Japan's opening match against Norway but suffered a knee injury which ruled her out of the rest of the tournament.

Style of play

Despite her relatively slender frame for a women's footballer, Shimizu is known for her relentless and aggressive defensive capabilities. However, the qualities she has garnered the most praise for are her especially high work-rate and stamina, earning a reputation as a right-back who can make repeated overlapping runs over the course of a full match, contributing as much to attacking plays as she does to defending. This is largely thanks to her experience as a marathon runner in her youth.

Shimizu is also proficient at occupying attacking spaces on the pitch and creating goalscoring opportunities for her teammates. As with many Japanese players that are noted for their technical abilities on the ball, Shimizu often plays a key role in assisting goals from the high degree of accuracy on her early crosses and penetrative passes into the penalty box following dribbles down the byline.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 18 May 2024

1. Includes Empress's Cup, Women's FA Cup
2. Includes Nadeshiko League Cup, FA Women's League Cup
3. Includes AFC Women's Club Championship

International

As of match played 13 July 2024

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

List of international goals scored by Risa Shimizu

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	11 April 2021	Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Panama	2–0	7–0	Friendly
2	14 July 2023	Yurtec Stadium Sendai, Sendai, Japan	Panama	1–0	5–0
3	5 August 2023	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand	Norway	2–1	3–1	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
4	1 November 2023	Lokomotiv Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Vietnam	1–0	2–0	2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Honours

Tokyo Verdy Beleza

• Nadeshiko League: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
• Nadeshiko League Cup: 2016, 2018, 2019
• Empress's Cup: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• AFC Women's Club Championship: 2019

Japan U19

• AFC U-19 Women's Championship: 2015

Japan

• AFC Women's Asian Cup: 2018
• Asian Games: 2018
• EAFF Women's Football Championship: 2019, 2022

Individual

• Nadeshiko League Best Eleven: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• WE League Best Eleven: 2021-22
• WE League Outstanding Players Award: 2021-22
• EAFF Women's Football Championship MVP: 2022

References

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External links

• Risa Shimizu – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Risa Shimizu at Soccerway
• Risa Shimizu at WorldFootball.net
• Japan Football Association

Japan squads

v t e Japan squad – 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup winners (2nd title) 1 Ikeda 2 Utsugi 3 Sameshima 4 Kumagai (c) 5 Ichise 6 Ariyoshi 7 Nakajima 8 Iwabuchi 9 Kawasumi 10 Mi. Sakaguchi 11 Tanaka 12 Naomoto 13 Sugasawa 14 Hasegawa 15 Mo. Sakaguchi 16 Sumida 17 Takagi 18 Yamashita 19 Masuya 20 Yokoyama 21 Hirao 22 Shimizu 23 Miyake Coach: Takakura v t e Japan squad – 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup 1 Ikeda 2 Utsugi 3 Sameshima 4 Kumagai (c) 5 Ichise 6 Sugita 7 Nakajima 8 Iwabuchi 9 Sugasawa 10 Sakaguchi 11 Kobayashi 12 Minami 13 Takarada 14 Hasegawa 15 Momiki 16 Miyagawa 17 Miura 18 Yamashita 19 Endō 20 Yokoyama 21 Hirao 22 Shimizu 23 Miyake Coach: Takakura v t e Japan women's football squad – 2020 Summer Olympics 1 Ikeda 2 Shimizu 3 Takarada 4 Kumagai (c) 5 Minami 6 Sugita 7 Nakajima 8 Miura 9 Sugasawa 10 Iwabuchi 11 Tanaka 12 Endō 13 Shiokoshi 14 Hasegawa 15 Momiki 16 Miyagawa 17 Kitamura 18 Yamashita 19 Miyake 20 Hayashi 21 Kinoshita 22 Hirao Coach: Takakura v t e Japan squad – 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup semi-finalists 1 S. Ikeda 2 Shimizu 3 Minami 4 Kumagai (c) 5 Miyake 6 Miyagawa 7 Sumida 8 Naomoto 9 Sugasawa 10 Iwabuchi 11 Mi. Tanaka 12 Norimatsu 13 Endō 14 Hasegawa 15 Nagano 16 Hayashi 17 Narumiya 18 Yamashita 19 Ueki 20 Takahashi 21 Mo. Tanaka 22 Takarada 23 Miyazawa Coach: F. Ikeda v t e Japan squad – 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 1 Yamashita 2 Shimizu 3 Minami 4 Kumagai (c) 5 Miyake 6 Sugita 7 Miyazawa 8 Naomoto 9 Ueki 10 Nagano 11 Mi. Tanaka 12 Takahashi 13 Endō 14 Hasegawa 15 Fujino 16 Hayashi 17 Seike 18 Mo. Tanaka 19 Moriya 20 Hamano 21 Hirao 22 Chiba 23 Ishikawa Coach: Ikeda v t e Japan women's football squad – 2024 Summer Olympics 1 Yamashita 2 Shimizu 3 Minami 4 Kumagai (c) 5 Takahashi 6 Koga 7 Miyazawa 8 Seike 9 Ueki 10 Nagano 11 Tanaka 12 Tanikawa 13 Kitagawa 14 Hasegawa 15 Fujino 16 Hayashi 17 Hamano 18 Hirao 19 Chiba 20 Moriya 21 Ishikawa 22 Ohba Coach: Ikeda

• 1996 births
• Living people
• Kokushikan University alumni
• Association football people from Hyōgo Prefecture
• Japanese women's footballers
• Japan women's international footballers
• Nadeshiko League players
• Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza players
• Sportspeople from Kobe
• West Ham United F.C. Women players
• Manchester City W.F.C. players
• Women's Super League players
• Women's association football defenders
• Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games
• Asian Games gold medalists for Japan
• Asian Games medalists in football
• Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games
• 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players
• Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics
• Olympic footballers for Japan
• Japanese expatriate sportspeople in England
• 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players
• 21st-century Japanese sportswomen