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Zion Suzuki

The native form of this personal name is Suzuki Zaion. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Zion Suzuki
鈴木 彩艶
Suzuki with Japan in 2024
Personal information
Date of birth (2002-08-21) 21 August 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth Newark, New Jersey, United States
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Parma
Number 31
Youth career
2009–2020 Urawa Red Diamonds
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2024 Urawa Red Diamonds 8 (0)
2023–2024 → Sint-Truiden (loan) 32 (0)
2024– Parma 11 (0)
International career‡
2016–2017 Japan U15 7 (0)
2017 Japan U16 2 (0)
2017–2019 Japan U17 9 (0)
2018 Japan U18 1 (0)
2021– Japan U23 1 (0)
2022– Japan 16 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Japan
EAFF Championship
Winner 2022 Japan Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Zion Suzuki[2] (鈴木 彩艶, Suzuki Zaion, born 21 August 2002) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Parma and the Japan national team.

Early life

Suzuki was born in Newark, New Jersey, United States, to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother.[3][4] He was named after the biblical location of Mount Zion near Jerusalem.[5] Suzuki's family later moved to Japan, settling in Urawa, Saitama, where he was raised.[6]

Club career

Urawa Red Diamonds

Suzuki's professional career began with Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds when he was sixteen years and five months old, making him the youngest player in the history of the club to sign a professional contract. Suzuki made his debut for the club on 2 March 2021 in the J.League Cup match against Shonan Bellmare where he kept a clean sheet. His first appearance in the J1 League came on 9 May 2021 in a match against Vegalta Sendai where he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 win.[4] He would then go on to play in the next 5 consecutive league matches with main choice goalkeeper, Shusaku Nishikawa dropped due to poor performances. He recorded 4 clean sheets in 6 matches for Urawa Reds. Suzuki won the 2021 J.League Cup in his first season at the club.

Suzuki made his 2022 AFC Champions League debut against Singaporean club Lion City Sailors on 15 April 2022, however, he made a costly error after receiving a back pass from David Moberg Karlsson which resulted in an own goal. In the next match against Chinese side Shandong Taishan, he kept a clean sheet in a 5–0 win. Suzuki played in the club 4 group stage fixtures before being dropped in favour of first choice goalkeeper, Shusuke Nishikawa in the run all the way to the 2022 AFC Champions League final. Suzuki helped the club to win the 2022 AFC Champions League trophy and the 2022 Japanese Super Cup.

Sint-Truiden

In August 2023, Suzuki was sent on loan from the Urawa Red Diamonds to Sint-Truiden, a team in the Belgian Pro League. He served as the understudy for fellow Japanese goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt before he was named the starter.

During Suzuki's stint at Sint-Truiden, he was reportedly offered the position as a backup goalkeeper at Manchester United. However, he turned down the offer, wanting to stay at Sint-Truiden for game time.[7]

On 1 February 2024, it was announced that Suzuki's loan with Sint-Truiden will be converted into a permanent transfer for next season on 1 July 2024.[8]

Parma

On 15 July 2024, Serie A club Parma announced the signing of Suzuki on a five-year contract.[9] He made his league debut on 17 August 2024 against Fiorentina. [10]

International career

Suzuki has represented Japan at multiple levels in youth football. On 19 July 2022, he earned his first cap with the Japan national team, playing the full match against Hong Kong in the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, which his side won 6–0.[11]

He played in Japan's opening match of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, a 4–2 win against Vietnam. He also played in their following 1–2 defeat to Iraq, logging one save.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 November 2024[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Urawa Red Diamonds 2021 J1 League 6 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 15 0
2022 2 0 0 0 2 0 4[a] 0 8 0
2023 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 6 0
Total 8 0 1 0 16 0 4 0 29 0
Sint-Truiden (loan) 2023–24 Belgian Pro League 32 0 0 0 — — 32 0
Parma 2024–25 Serie A 11 0 0 0 — — 11 0
Career total 51 0 1 0 16 0 4 0 72 0
  1. ^ Appearances in AFC Champions League

International

As of match played 19 November 2024[13]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 2022 1 0
2023 2 0
2024 13 0
Total 16 0

Honours

Urawa Red Diamonds

Japan

Individual

  • Japan Pro-Footballers Association Best XI: 2023

References

  1. ^ "Zion Suzuki – Player Profile – Football". Japan Football Association. Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  2. ^ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019: List of Players: Japan" (PDF). FIFA. 31 October 2019. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Profile of Zion Suzuki" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b 日本放送協会. "鈴木彩艶のプロフィール｜サッカー｜東京オリンピックパラリンピック". www3.nhk.or.jp. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  5. ^ "U-15世代の中学生GK鈴木彩艶がU-17代表で学びの一週間。「這い上がっていけるように」". ゲキサカ (in Japanese). 18 July 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  6. ^ "浦和ＧＫ鈴木彩艶、シントトロイデン移籍を発表「世界で闘ってきます」マンＵの獲得打診断り決断". Hochi Shimbun. 6 August 2023. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Zion Suzuki explains why he rejected Manchester United transfer". Metro Uk. 29 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Announcement of permanent transfer of Zion Suzuki to Sint-Truiden VV". www.urawa-reds.co.jp (in Japanese). Urawa Red Diamonds. February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Zion Suzuki is a Gialloblu". Parma Calcio 1913. 15 July 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Parma 1-1 Fiorentina: Match report and highlights". MSN. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Z. Suzuki". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  12. ^ Zion Suzuki at Soccerway
  13. ^ Zion Suzuki at National-Football-Teams.com Edit this at Wikidata
  14. ^ "Urawa Reds edge Al Hilal for historic third title". AFC. 6 May 2023. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  15. ^ Orlowitz, Dan (6 May 2023). "Urawa beats Al Hilal to capture third Asian Champions League title". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
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