Daisuke Matsui (松井 大輔, Matsui Daisuke^?, born May 11, 1981 in Yamashina-ku, Kyoto) is a Japanese footballer who plays for Grenoble Foot 38 in the French Ligue 1.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early years

In 2000, Matsui graduated from Kagoshima Commercial High School (鹿児島実業高校, Kagoshima Jitsugyō Kōkō^?) and began his professional career with Kyoto Purple Sanga of the J. League.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Kyoto Purple Sanga

After his J. League rookie season Purple Sanga were relegated to J. League Division 2. However, the following season Matsui played a prominent role in helping his club finish first in Division 2, earning the club a promotion back to Division 1. In 2002 the club continued their success by having a strong season, finishing sixth in the league and winning the Emperor's Cup. The club's success and Matsui's increased exposure lead to Matsui being called up to the national team for the first time in 2003. However, his club was again relegated to Division 2 after the 2003 season, and could not earn a return to Division 1 after the 2004 season.

[edit] Le Mans UC 72

In 2004, after four and a half seasons in Kyoto, Matsui signed with Le Mans UC 72 of Ligue 2 in France. Matsui chose Le Mans, then a second division club, over Lazio, one of the top clubs in Serie A, because he believed that the style of Italian football was too defensive.^[1]

In Japan, Matsui had been criticized for his small physique and mental weakness, but he adapted to the fast, physical style of French football by changing his style and holding on to the ball less. In his first season with Le Mans, he helped the club earn a runners-up finish in Ligue 2 and a promotion to Ligue 1. In 2005-06, in Matsui's first season playing in Ligue 1, Le Mans began undefeated in its first six matches of the season and finished 11th place in the league. Matsui was voted as the Player of the Month for January 2006.^[2] Jean-Sébastien Grond of Football.fr has dubbed Matsui "the sun of Le Mans" (le soleil du Mans), while many Le Mans supporters and the media consider him the top player for the club.^[3][4]

In the 2006-07 season Mastui appeared in 27 games and Le Mans finished 12th place in Ligue 1.

During the 2007-08 season Matsui expressed desire to transfer to a new club at the end of the season, when his contract with Le Mans was set to expire.^[2] Among the teams which were believed to have shown interested in signing him at the time were Catania, Genoa, Lazio and Torino of Serie A, Celtic and Rangers of the Scottish Premier League, Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg of the Bundesliga, and Lille of Ligue 1. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

[edit] AS Saint-Étienne

At the conclusion of the season 2007-08 season, after having played for Le Mans for four consecutive years, Matsui announced his transfer to AS Saint-Étienne of Ligue 1 on a three year signing.^[9]

In the beginning of the 2008-09 season Matsui was seeing very limited playing time, which was believed to have been due to his poor form combined with a rift with the manager, Laurent Roussey. However, on 10 November 2008 Roussey was released by Saint-Étienne due to the clubs poor performance^[10]. At the time of Roussey's release the club had lost five consecutive matches and sat in 18th place in the 20-team league, with a record of three wins, nine losses and a draw. During the club's poor slide, Saint-Étienne co-president Roland Romeyer criticized several players including Matsui, whom Romeyer had questioned if he was a body-double for the ‘real’ Japanese star Sainté had brought in from Le Mans in the summer^[11].

On 11 November, 2008, Saint-Étienne announced that Alain Perrin was appointed as the club's new manager^[12]. Perrin had led Olympique Lyonnais to the domestic double in the previous season by winning the Ligue 1 title and the French Cup.

[edit] International career

Matsui made his national team debut on June 22, 2003 with Japan at Confederations Cup 2003 against Colombia and scored his international goal against Angola on October 11, 2005. He also played for the U-23 national team at the 2004 Olympics.

Despite his performance at Le Mans, Matsui was not part of Zico's selection for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Former Japan coach Philippe Troussier criticized the decision stating that "Matsui was selected as one of the best foreign players in France and didn't make it into the squad of 23 Zico selected, which is a pity given his form and experience."^[13]

Matsui was called up for the first time under Ivica Osim's reign to play in friendlies against Austria and Switzerland in September 2007. Matsui has continued to make national team appearances under Takeshi Okada, who has replaced Osim after Osim suffered a stroke in November 2007.

[edit] Club Career Statistics

[edit] In Domestic Competitions

Season	Team	League	Apps (Subs)	Goals	Assists	Team Record	Note
2000	Kyoto Purple Sanga	J. League (J1)	22	1	0	16th place	Relegated to Div.2
2001	Kyoto Purple Sanga	J. League (J2)	37	7	6	Champion	Promoted to Div.1
2002	Kyoto Purple Sanga	J. League (J1)	23	4	2	6th place	Emperor's Cup Champions
2003	Kyoto Purple Sanga	J. League (J1)	27	2	3	16th place	Relegated to Div.2
2004	Kyoto Purple Sanga	J. League (J2)	18	2	3	5th place
2004-05	Le Mans	Ligue 2	25 (7)	3	4	Runners-up	Promoted to Ligue 1
2005-06	Le Mans	Ligue 1	33 (5)	3	8	11th place	Player of the Month (Jan)
2006-07	Le Mans	Ligue 1	27 (6)	4	4	12th place
2007-08	Le Mans	Ligue 1	35 (3)	5	5	9th place
2008-09	Saint-Étienne	Ligue 1	22 (7)	1	0	17th place
2009-10	Grenoble	Ligue 1	3 (2)	0	1	20th place

Last update: 8 October 2009

[edit] National Team Career Statistics

Last update: 12 December 2008

[edit] Appearances by year

[edit] Appearances in major competitions

Team	Competition	Category	Appearances		Goals	Team Record
			Start	Sub
Japan	2003 FIFA Confederations Cup	Senior	0	1	0	Round 1
Japan	2004 Olympics	U-23	1	2	0	Round 1

[edit] Goals for Senior National Team

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	November 16, 2005	Tokyo, Japan	Angola	1-0	Won	Friendly

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Matsui Daisuke Official Site (Japanese)
• AS Saint-Étienne Player Profile (French)
• FrenchLeague.com Player Statistics
• Rising Sun News profile
• National Football Teams

v • d • e Japan squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Narazaki • 2 Narahashi • 3 Akita • 4 Morioka • 5 Inamoto • 6 Hattori • 7 H. Nakata • 8 Ogasawara • 9 Ōkubo • 10 Nakamura • 11 Matsui • 12 Doi • 13 Oku • 14 Alex • 15 Myojin • 16 K. Nakata • 17 Miyamoto • 18 Nagai • 19 Endō • 20 Takahara • 21 Tsuboi • 22 Yamada • 23 Kawaguchi • Coach: Zico

v • d • e Japan squad – 2004 Summer Olympics 1 Sogahata • 2 Túlio • 3 Moniwa • 4 Nasu • 5 Abe • 6 Konno • 7 Morisaki • 8 Ono • 9 Takamatsu • 10 Matsui • 11 Tanaka • 12 Kikuchi • 13 Komano • 14 Ishikawa • 15 Tokunaga • 16 Ōkubo • 17 Hirayama • 18 Kurokawa • Coach: Yamamoto