Career
Maekawa was educated at and played for Hirado High School. After graduating in 1986, he joined Japan Soccer League side Mazda S.C.. When Japan's first-ever professional league J. League started in 1993, Mazda S.C. was transformed to Sanfrecce Hiroshima for whom he continued to play. In April 1990, he went had a trial at Manchester United. He had been the first-choice GK for the club since 1989 although he was prone to injuries. He decided to have operation on his shoulder in 1998 and his place was filled in by Takashi Shimoda who kept the place after Maekawa came back. Maekawa was transferred to J. League Division 2 side Oita Trinita in 2000 before retiring from the game after the 2001 season.
He was capped 17 times for the Japanese national team from 1992 to 1996. His first cap came on June 7, 1992 in a friendly against Wales in Matsuyama, Ehime. He was a member of the Japan team that won the 1992 AFC Asian Cup. He played 2 games after first-choice keeper Shigetatsu Matsunaga was shown a red card in the semi-final against China.
After finishing his playing career, he remained at Trinita and worked in the areas of marketing, operations and developments until 2005. He is now a coach at Sanfrecce Tsuneishi Soccer School, one of the affiliated soccer schools of Sanfrecce Hiroshima. (as of September 2007)
Read more about this topic: Kazuya Maekawa
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