Junichi Inamoto
Personal information
Full name	Junichi Inamoto
Date of birth	September 18, 1979 (1979-09-18) (age 30)
Place of birth	Yusui, Kagoshima, Japan
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Rennes
Number	6
Youth career
1985–19?? 1992–1997	Seiei Gakuen SC Gamba Osaka
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997–2004 2001–2002 2002–2004 2004–2006 2004–2005 2006–2007 2007–2009 2009–	Gamba Osaka → Arsenal (loan) → Fulham (loan) West Bromwich Albion → Cardiff City (loan) Galatasaray Eintracht Frankfurt Rennes	118 (16) 000 0(0) 041 0(4) 028 0(0) 012 0(0) 025 0(0) 043 0(0) 004 0(0)
National team2
1998–1999 1998–2000 2000–	Japan U-20 Japan U-23 Japan	011 0(4) 015 0(5) 072 0(5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 29, 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of September 9, 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Junichi Inamoto (稲本 潤一, Inamoto Jun'ichi^?, born September 18, 1979) is a Japanese football player who plays in midfield for Rennes.

[edit] Playing career

Inamoto played for Japanese club Gamba Osaka during his last year of high school, signing with the club in 1998. He was then one of many high profile transfers of Asian players to Europe, signing with Arsenal of the Premier League, though he failed to find a consistent place in the first team, only ever appearing in the League Cup and Champions League. Inamoto scored two goals for the Japanese national team at the 2002 World Cup, but had already been released by Arsenal shortly before the tournament began.^[1] He was then signed by Fulham on a long-term loan deal from Gamba Osaka. Initially he settled well at the London club, garnering good notices as a tough-tackling midfielder with an eye for a spectacular goal. He scored four goals over the two legs of Fulham's Intertoto Cup final against Bologna, scoring once in the first leg^[2] and a hat trick in the second.^[3] Other notable goals he scored in his time for Fulham include goals against Tottenham Hotspur,^[4] Sunderland,^[5] Middlesbrough^[6] and also in the 3–1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford in October 2003.^[7] He also scored in the FA Cup against Everton^[8] which commentator Barry Davies described as "a Japanese peach".^{[citation needed]} However, he sustained a fractured tibia in an international friendly against England, and returned to Gamba Osaka to do promotional work. Fulham were interested in signing him once more, but concerns remained over his recovery from injury.^[9]

Inamoto signed with West Bromwich Albion for a decidedly small £200,000 transfer fee, which was only to be paid once he had made an appearance for the Midlands club.^[10] However, Gary Megson departed as West Bromwich Albion manager shortly afterwards, and successor Bryan Robson was unsure of the player. Inamoto was loaned to Cardiff City for the latter part of the 2004–05 season,^[11] and impressed, being recalled to play a role in West Brom's survival campaign in the Premiership. In 2005–06 he was a regular in the West Brom side, and was called up to the Japan squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the first Albion player to play in the tournament for 20 years.^{[citation needed]}

On August 31, 2006, he signed for Galatasaray.^[12]

On May 29, 2007 it was revealed that he signed a two-year contract with German club Eintracht Frankfurt, joining on a free transfer.^[13] Inamoto was presented in a press conference joining fellow Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara in Frankfurt and was released on 30 May 2009.

On 19 June 2009, French Ligue 1 side Rennes announced the signing of Inamoto.^[14]

[edit] Career statistics

(correct as of May 23, 2009)

* Includes Intertoto Cup

[edit] National team

• 2000 Asian Cup (Champions)
• 2001 Confederations Cup (Runners-Up)
• 2002 FIFA World Cup
• 2003 Confederations Cup
• 2005 Confederations Cup
• 2006 FIFA World Cup

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	July 4, 2001	Ōita, Japan	Yugoslavia	1–0	Won	Friendly Match
2.	June 4, 2002	Saitama, Japan	Belgium	2–2	Drew	2002 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
3.	June 9, 2002	Yokohama, Japan	Russia	1–0	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
4.	March 28, 2003	Tokyo, Japan	Uruguay	2–2	Drew	Friendly Match
5.	September 9, 2009	Utrecht, Netherlands	Ghana	4–3	Won	Friendly Match

[edit] National team games appearances

[edit] Honours and awards

[edit] Individual honours

• J-League Best Eleven: 2000

[edit] Team honours

• FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-Up: 2001
• FIFA World Youth Championship Runners-Up: 1999
• Asian Cup Champions: 2000

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Junichi Inamoto Official Website
• Profile at West Bromwich Albion's official site
• Statistics at soccerbase.com
• Junichi Inamoto FIFA competition record

Japan Squad v • d • e Japan squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 Narazaki • 2 Nakazawa • 3 Matsuda • 4 Morioka • 5 Miyamoto • 6 Inamoto • 7 H. Nakata • 8 Myojin • 9 Hirase • 10 Nakamura • 11 Miura • 12 Sakai • 13 Yanagisawa • 14 Motoyama • 15 Nishi • 16 K. Nakata • 17 Takahara • 18 Tsuzuki • Coach: Troussier v • d • e Japan squad – 2000 AFC Asian Cup Champions (2nd Title) 1 Kawaguchi • 3 Matsuda • 4 Morioka • 6 Hattori • 8 Mochizuki • 9 Nishizawa • 10 Nanami • 11 Miura • 12 Morishima • 13 Yanagisawa • 14 Nakamura • 15 Oku • 17 Inamoto • 19 Kubo • 20 Takakuwa • 21 Shimoda • 22 Nakazawa • 24 Myojin • 26 Kaimoto • 27 Kitajima • 29 Takahara • 30 Ono • Coach: Troussier v • d • e Japan squad – 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-Up 1 Kawaguchi • 2 Uemura • 3 Matsuda • 4 Morioka • 5 Inamoto • 6 Hattori • 7 H. Nakata • 8 Morishima • 9 Nishizawa • 10 Miura • 11 Nakayama • 12 Narazaki • 13 Yamashita • 14 Ito • 15 Fujita • 16 K. Nakata • 17 Myojin • 18 Toda • 19 Kubo • 20 Hato • 21 Ono • 22 Suzuki • 23 Tsuzuki • Coach: Troussier v • d • e Japan squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Kawaguchi • 2 Akita • 3 Matsuda • 4 Morioka • 5 Inamoto • 6 Hattori • 7 H. Nakata • 8 Morishima • 9 Nishizawa • 10 Nakayama • 11 Suzuki • 12 Narazaki • 13 Yanagisawa • 14 Alex • 15 Fukunishi • 16 K. Nakata • 17 Miyamoto • 18 Ono • 19 Ogasawara • 20 Myojin • 21 Toda • 22 Ichikawa • 23 Sogahata • Coach: Troussier 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 – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Narazaki • 2 Tanaka • 3 Chano • 4 Endō • 5 Miyamoto • 6 K. Nakata • 7 H. Nakata • 8 Ogasawara • 9 Tamada • 10 Nakamura • 11 Suzuki • 12 Doi • 13 Yanagisawa • 14 Alex • 15 Fukunishi • 16 Oguro • 17 Miura • 18 Inamoto • 19 Motoyama • 20 Tsuboi • 21 Kaji • 22 Moniwa • 23 Kawaguchi • Coach: Zico v • d • e Japan squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Narazaki • 2 Moniwa • 3 Komano • 4 Endō • 5 Miyamoto • 6 K. Nakata • 7 H. Nakata • 8 Ogasawara • 9 Takahara • 10 Nakamura • 11 Maki • 12 Doi • 13 Yanagisawa • 14 Alex • 15 Fukunishi • 16 Oguro • 17 Inamoto • 18 Ono • 19 Tsuboi • 20 Tamada • 21 Kaji • 22 Nakazawa • 23 Kawaguchi • Coach: Zico