Tatsuya Tanaka

is a Japanese professional football coach and former player who played as a forward.

Club career When he was at Shūyō Junior High School, he represented Yamaguchi Prefecture with future international teammate Seiichiro Maki. He went on to football powerhouse Teikyo High School. While at Teikyo, Tanaka was chosen as one of the Designated Players for Development by J.League and JFA. Because of this status, he was able to register as a FC Tokyo player while he was still eligible to play for his high school club.

After graduating Teikyo, he joined Urawa Reds. His first league appearance came on 29 April 2001 against Kashima Antlers. His first professional goal came on 21 May 2001 against Tokyo Verdy. He played 32 matches in 2013 season, the most in his career. Although he played many matches every season, Albirex was relegated to J2 League end of 2017 season.

After nine years in Niigata, Tanaka officially retired on 5 December 2021, when he left the pitch after 40 minutes into the home match against Machida Zelvia. Tanaka immediately joined Niigata's coaching staff for the youth sector.

National team career Tanaka represented Japan at several underage levels. He was part of the Japanese 2004 Olympic football team eliminated in the first round after finishing fourth in group B, below group winners Paraguay, Italy, and Ghana.

He made his international debut on 31 July 2005 in an East Asian Championship against North Korea when he replaced Keiji Tamada in the 67th minute. He scored his first international goal on 3 August 2005 against China in the same tournament. His most recent goal came against Qatar on 19 November 2008. He played 16 games and scored 3 goals for Japan until 2009.

Career statistics Club

International

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

+ List of international goals scored by Tatsuya Tanaka No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 3 August 2005 Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea 2005 East Asian Football Championship 2 19 November 2008 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification 3 20 January 2009 KKWing Stadium, Kumamoto, Japan 2011 AFC Asian Cup Qualification

Honours Urawa Red Diamonds J1 League: 2006 Emperor's Cup: 2005, 2006 J.League Cup: 2003 AFC Champions League: 2007 Japanese Super Cup: 2006

Individual J.League Cup MVP: 2003 J.League Cup New Hero Award: 2003