Mana Iwabuchi

At 31 years old, Mana Iwabuchi has this physical status:

On 21 October 2007, when she was 14 years old, she made her debut for Nippon TV Beleza in the Nadeshiko League, the reigning champions in the top flight of women's football in Japan. The following year, she broke into the first team and was awarded Best Young Player for the 2008 season.

At the Nadeshiko League Cup Final on 22 August 2010, she scored the winning goal in the 90th minute of the game and led her team to a 3–2 victory over rivals Urawa Reds Ladies, earning the tournament's MVP award. Despite her goal contribution and many plaudits from teammates and the media, she said "Even today, I didn't do anything except for the very last minute. I'm happy, but I'm more disappointed in myself. I'm still so lacking, I want to work hard so I can get even a step closer to Sawa-san." Aged 17, she took over the number 10 shirt from Japan legend Homare Sawa the following season.

In the 2011 season, she scored the team's highest and league's joint-3rd highest of 9 goals, receiving the Most Hardworking Player award and was selected for the Best Eleven.

On 28 November 2012, Iwabuchi joined 1899 Hoffenheim in the 2. Bundesliga and chose the number 28 shirt, the first number she wore for Beleza as a professional footballer. On 17 March 2013, she made her debut in a 6–2 away victory against SV Bardenbach, coming on as a substitute in the 46th minute. On 31 March 2013, she scored her first goal in a 3–2 win over 1. FFC Niederkirchen. Iwabuchi finished the 2012–13 season with four goals in nine appearances as Hoffenheim won the Southern division and were promoted to the Bundesliga.

In the following season, she changed her shirt number to 13. On 8 September 2013, she scored Hoffenheim's first ever goal in the top-flight in a 1–0 home victory against VfL Sindelfingen. In the second-last fixture of the season, Iwabuchi faced her future club Bayern Munich; she scored 2 goals and assisted one as Hoffenheim came back from two goals down to win 3–2 and secured their safety from relegation. She finished the 2013–14 season with six goals in 22 appearances in all competitions.

In June 2014, Iwabuchi left Hoffenheim to join Bayern Munich. During the 2014–15 season, she scored 3 goals in her debut season and was part of a Bayern team that remained unbeaten in the Bundesliga and won the title for the first time since 1976.

On 30 January 2016, she signed a two-year contract extension. She helped her team lift the Bundesliga title for a second season running, scoring the equaliser against her former club Hoffenheim in a 1–1 draw on the final day of the 2015–16 season.

In March 2017, however, she announced on her blog and to the media that despite having one year left, she had mutually terminated her contract with the club so she could return to Japan to focus on her recovery from injury.

On 23 June 2017, Iwabuchi signed with INAC Kobe Leonessa. She had received offers from multiple clubs, and it came as a surprise to many that she decided to sign with Kobe Leonessa, as they are considered main rivals of NTV Beleza, the club she spent her youth at and played at until her move overseas to Germany. She revealed that she chose the club because they courted her most enthusiastically, and she wanted to play under manager Takeo Matsuda again. He was her coach at NTV Beleza when she was around 14 or 15 years old. Iwabuchi elaborated in a magazine interview, "At the time, I could barely keep up in training, but he would still play me in matches. But I remember feeling let down because I couldn't do much. That is why I wanted to come back and show him how much I've grown as a player, and I also wanted to learn football from him again."

On 9 September 2017, she made her return to the Nadeshiko League in Japan after five years away, coming on as a substitute against MyNavi Sendai Ladies. She then scored her first goal for the club in a 5-0 win over Okayama Yunogo Belle on 5 November 2017.

On 9 August 2020, she achieved the milestone of 100 appearances in the Nadeshiko League.

She was given the captain's armband in her final season with the club, where she featured 47 times and netted 11 goals.

Iwabuchi returned to Europe after she signed with Aston Villa in the FA Women's Super League on 21 December 2020 and joined them mid-season in January 2021. Her signing was described by sporting director Eni Aluko as a "statement signing" for the club, and a unique deal was constructed with CEO Christian Purslow to bring Iwabuchi to the club, ahead of many other top clubs in Europe who were interested in her. Iwabuchi herself said, "receiving an offer from a club that plays in what I personally consider to be the most attractive league in the world right now, I wanted to go there without any hesitation." She added, "I have faced the England national team as a player for Japan. Firstly, I could feel the high individual level of the players, the power and technique, as well as their completion as a team. Second, was the fact that they are the women's team of a club that plays in the Premier League. The environment is good, so that was another attractive point."

She registered her first goal and assist for the club on her first league start against Reading on 23 January 2021.

Instrumental to Aston Villa's season-long battle to survive relegation, Iwabuchi also secured a crucial victory (and their first home win of the season) against Tottenham Hotspur on 6 February 2021 by scoring the only goal of the game, a thunderous strike from 25-yards out. Her goal was among the nominees for FA Women's Super League 20/21 Goal of the Season.

As her short-term contract with Villa expired at the end of June 2021, it was announced on 26 May 2021 that she would join Arsenal afterwards. The club had reportedly been trying to sign her since the summer of 2019, and again in the winter of 2020, but the move was blocked by the Japanese Football Association, who wanted her to stay in Japan till the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo had taken place.

She scored her first goal for the club on 18 August 2021 – her debut – versus Okzhetpes in the Champions League. In the next game against PSV, her second-ever appearance for Arsenal, she scored twice. Her first goal in that match, a stunning solo goal from a short corner, won the club's Goal of the Month poll for August in which fans vote to elect the best goal from the Men's, Women's and U-23 teams. With 64% of the votes, she became only the third player from the women's team, following Kim Little and Vivianne Miedema, to win the award. Conversely, she scored her first goal on behalf of Arsenal in the WSL against her former team Villa, which they won 4–0 away on 2 October 2021.

International career

Iwabuchi began her international career in 2008 when she was selected onto the Japan U-17 national team at the age of 15, and participated in the 2008 U-17 World Cup in New Zealand. The team was defeated in the quarterfinals but a series of outstanding performances saw Iwabuchi named winner of the adidas Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. The award doubly significant as it was the first time a Japanese player, male or female, had picked up the prestigious MVP award in a FIFA competition. A French team coach hailed her as a "future star of women's football."

The following year, Iwabuchi participated in the 2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship where she led the Young Nadeshiko to their second crown at this level. Several decisive strikes, including a late winner in the final against Korea Republic, and the only goal of the semi-final against DPR Korea, saw her finish as the tournament's joint top scorer with four goals and recipient of the MVP award yet again.

As a result, Iwabuchi was awarded the Asian Young Footballer of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation in 2008 and 2009. Despite not yet having made an appearance for the senior national team, Iwabuchi was also nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year award (which would later become the FIFA Ballon D'or) in 2009. She was the fourth Japanese player in history and first female player to be nominated for this award.

The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany did not prove as successful as New Zealand 2008, with Japan somewhat unluckily eliminated in the group stage. Iwabuchi though again demonstrated her ability to score key goals, grabbing a long-range equaliser in their 3–3 draw against Mexico. Despite Japan failing to progress further in the tournament, Iwabuchi was among the shortlist of ten candidates for the adidas Golden Ball at Germany 2010.

On 6 February 2010, Iwabuchi made her debut for the Japan women's national football team in the East Asian Football Championship, held in her home country of Japan. She appeared as a 60th-minute substitute in Japan's 2–0 win over China.

Five days later, aged 16, she scored her first goals at senior international level in a 3–0 win against the Chinese Taipei national team in the same competition. In her post-match interview, she said "The atmosphere here (Japan National Stadium) is special. I was pretty nervous before the match, so I'm happy that I was even able to get two goals. Goals are the accumulation of many different plays, so I'm grateful to everyone in the team. Personally, I want to do more dribbling. My goal is to be like Messi. He is small but I love his sharp dribbling skills!" Japan went on to win the championship and Iwabuchi finished as the tournament's joint top scorer.

In July 2011, she was selected to play in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, the youngest member of Japan's squad at 18 years of age. She made appearances in all of Japan's games during the tournament, with the exception of the semi-final against Sweden, as Japan achieved a historic maiden title. She came on as a substitute in the final against the United States as Japan won 3–1 in a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time, becoming the first Asian team to win a FIFA World Cup final.

The outcome of the game was so unbelievable that it caused widespread celebration in Japan as the country was still feeling the effects of the devastating 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people prior to the tournament. As a result, the entire team was bestowed the People's Honour Award, a prestigious government commendation by the Prime Minister of Japan, for the immense hope and joy they brought the demoralised nation as well as the feat that achieved while lacking any sufficient support from the JFA as women's football wasn't the top priority of Japan's football development. Iwabuchi is the youngest ever recipient (aged 18 years 5 months and 0 days) of the award, while the youngest person to win the honour individually is the Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu (aged 23 years 6 months and 25 days).

Prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, she suffered a contusion to her right ankle, sustained in the quarter-final against Germany the previous year during the World Cup. She had to walk on crutches and was forced to withdraw from the final round of Asian Qualifiers for the Olympics.

Despite this, she recovered in time to play at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She featured in a total of 3 games over the course of the tournament, including a start against South Africa in the group stages.

In the gold medal match on 9 August 2012, Japan faced the United States, the two countries meeting yet again in consecutive finals of major tournaments. Similar to the previous final, Iwabuchi came on as a substitute in the 76th minute. As Japan were trailing the USA 2–1, Iwabuchi nicked the ball off defender Christie Rampone and was through on goal, with the chance to equalise. However, her curled shot to the top right corner was saved by goalkeeper Hope Solo, and Japan went on to finish as silver medalists.

Upon returning to Japan, she teared up in front of reporters when speaking during the press conference, saying "It was a true joy to stand on the greatest stage with the best teammates. The result of finishing in second place was really disappointing, but I will work even harder from here." In an interview she gave in 2021, almost nine years later, she said that she still keeps an image of the scene where she failed to score as the wallpaper on her computer so that she "never forgets the disappointment of defeat."

In May 2015, just a month before the start of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Iwabuchi suffered a bruise to her right knee in a friendly game held during the national team training camp. Despite concerns as to whether she would be fit enough in time for the World Cup, head coach Norio Sasaki named her in Japan's 23-player squad where she was again the youngest member of the team.

His gamble paid off and Iwabuchi made headlines as she excelled in her role as a second-half impact substitute, playing a major role in Japan's two late wins in the quarter-final against Australia and then the dramatic semi-final against England. Her 87th-minute goal in the crucial 1-0 victory over Australia in the quarter-finals at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Canada, was her first goal at a FIFA World Cup. Japan eventually finished as runners-up to the USA.

In early 2016, Iwabuchi was part of the Japan team in the 2016 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where she scored important goals against South Korea, Vietnam and North Korea, finishing as the team's top scorer of the tournament. However, Japan ended the tournament in 3rd place, narrowly missing out on the top two places, which meant they had failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The summer of 2016 was a significant turning point in Iwabuchi's national team career, as the "Golden Period" of the Nadeshiko's global dominance was slowly beginning to come to a close. Her mentor and legend of the women's game in Japan, Homare Sawa, had announced her retirement at the end of 2015. This was followed by long-serving national team coach Norio Sasaki, who had led them to great successes at the past two World Cups and Olympics, stepping down from his role following Japan's failure to qualify for Rio 2016. With another key player Aya Miyama, the captain at the time, also retiring from national team duty following the failure to qualify for the Olympics, all eyes turned to Iwabuchi to step up as the focal point and become the star of the "future" Japanese national team.

Despite significant pressure and media attention, Iwabuchi delivered. At the 2018 Asian Cup held in Jordan from 6–20 April, which served as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, Iwabuchi played the full 90 minutes plus in all five matches over a two-week period and scored 2 goals. She led Japan to win the championship, defending their title in a 1–0 victory over Australia, and was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. "It was true joy for us to defend the Asian title," she said. "Personally, it is such an honour to claim the MVP title. However, it was the team efforts that counted so the awards belonged to the entire squad, not me."

Later that year in August, Iwabuchi participated in the 2018 Asian Games where she played a key role yet again, contributing 2 goals as Japan won their second-ever Asian Games gold medal. In the final on 31 August 2018, Japan scored a 90th-minute goal at the death to win 1–0 and crush China's hopes of winning a record fourth Asian Games women's football title.

Iwabuchi took part in her third consecutive World Cup competition, at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. On 14 June 2019, she scored Japan's opening goal of the tournament, a 23rd minute long-range strike from outside the box, and was named Player of the Match for her performance in Japan's 2–1 victory over Scotland.

Japan progressed to the knockout stages where they faced the Netherlands in the Round of 16, and Iwabuchi provided the assist for Yui Hasegawa's equaliser, a well-worked team goal that was nominated for Goal of the Tournament. However, her side was knocked out of the tournament after conceding a 90th-minute penalty resulting from a handball in the box, eventually losing 2–1 to their Dutch opponents.

At the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship held in South Korea in December 2019, Iwabuchi was given the captain's armband for the first time in the absence of Saki Kumagai, as Japan looked to bounce back from their disappointing campaign at the World Cup earlier in the year. In addition to two goals against Chinese Taipei, Iwabuchi scored a hat-trick against China in their 3–0 victory on 15 December 2019. With a total of 5 goals, she emerged the tournament's top scorer by a mile and won the Golden Boot as she led Japan to yet another regional title, their third in the history of this competition.

In July 2021, Iwabuchi inherited the number 10 shirt last worn by Japanese legend Homare Sawa, for the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Japan on home soil.

In the opening game of the group stages, held on 21 July 2021 at the Sapporo Dome in Hokkaido, Iwabuchi scored a dramatic late equaliser as Japan held Canada to a 1–1 draw. Latching onto a long ball and finishing with an impressive first-touch strike from the edge of the penalty area, this goal meant that Iwabuchi had scored for the Japan national team in five consecutive international matches, breaking the record previously held by Homare Sawa and the head coach at the time, Asako Takakura. Japan was eliminated from the competition in the quarter-final, where they lost 3–1 to eventual silver medalists Sweden.

Post-Olympics, Iwabuchi was asked about her thoughts on the current state of the Japan women's national team. She replied matter-of-factly, "this is a world where results matter more than anything. It is a pity, but I think that we did everything we could. After all, to be victorious in the world, everyone must be hungry, and aim for an environment to better themselves. Otherwise, we can't win. And for the women's football scene to develop further in Japan, the national team must be strong and produce results."

In line with her comments above, Iwabuchi has long been an advocate for more Japanese players to take up the challenge of playing overseas. She gave an in-depth interview sharing how her own experiences of moving abroad at an early age were invaluable to her development as a footballer, the differences in styles between Japanese football and European football, and the advice she gives younger players who may be considering their options for the future.

Speaking of her own challenge of playing overseas for a second time, she reminisced, "when I moved to Germany, I was only thinking about my own experiences. Rather, it was as if I went there because I wanted to. I was young, and it was my first time living alone, let alone abroad." She went on to say, "but this time [in England], I have no doubts at all. Ji So-Yun (formerly of INAC Kobe Leonessa where Iwabuchi played) from the South Korean national team also plays for Chelsea. Due to her success at the club, there are several Korean players in the English league now. I would like to become someone who leads the way for the Japanese, and if I can show them that playing football in England is fun, our younger players will be encouraged to take the plunge, and it will also be easier for Japanese players to be more highly regarded. That is one of my goals that I want to achieve."

As of February 2022, she has played 85 games and scored 37 goals, making her Japan's sixth-highest goalscorer.

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