A 1992 GK named Daniel Schmidt was listed on Kawasaki Frontale's 2010 roster. Wiki and transfermarkt both list him as American, but I can't make anything out from the club profile of him: http://www.frontale.co.jp/profile/2010/mem_36.html
Interesting. I'm having some fun with Google translator. His profile says he was born in Illinois. It also mentions his astrological sign and blood type. Fun facts! If you ever run across a Japanese-American goalkeeper who his bleeding profusely, think Type A. From what I can gather, he grew up in Japan.
Sorry for the slight necro, but I've just noticed this player while looking up his club. Any news from him? @Balerion: Japan is obsessed with blood types. Just sayin'.
He's 3/4th string keeper at Frontale. He'll probably play in the Nabisco Cup (Japan's version of the League Cup) next season. He might get loaned out next season, but he's young and probably won't be a starter for several years.
Sorry for the long bump but Schmidt's been the backup goalkeeper for Frontale's last couple matches, and given that the current starting goalkeeper is about to take time off for the U-22 NT I think there's a good chance he'll start on Wednesday night.
Yep, 6'5" and 187lbs. Born in Illinois to a Japanese mother and American father, but raised in Japan (his club history indicates that he's been playing in Japan since elementary school). However according to some forum threads I found he's pledged to take Japanese citizenship when he comes of age (20 in Japan); legally you can't hold dual citizenship in Japan but technically America can refuse to let him relinquish his US citizenship... I'm not sure how that situation will end up. In any case since he's a JFA-designated player it appears the Japanese NT is keen on him... I think you'll see him wear samurai blue before he puts on US white.
I will occasionally watch the J-League highlights and the goalkeeping level there can often be quite comical. But I also don't recall seeing anyone of that stature. In goal or otherwise.
Schmidt ain't one of the first four GKs at Kawasaki Frontale at the moment, apparently: http://www.frontale.co.jp/profile/2012/index.html But he's a young guy, so maybe he's somewhere further down the depth chart -- on a youth roster, perhaps?
He's also a third-year student at Chuo University and and plays for their team as well. Schmidt is a 'JFA Special Designation Player,' which is a system that lets J-League clubs sign players they consider to have huge potential to what amounts to a development contract, with approval from the FA and the league. It basically means that he can practice with the top team and, if the situation calls for it, may even get an opportunity to play. And even if he doesn't get a chance, the fact that Frontale have registered him for 3 straight years means that they're serious about signing him after he graduates.
Daniel Schmidt has signed with his hometown club Vegalta Sendai for the 2014 season. Vegalta is currently 11th in the J. League Division 1 table with 2 matches remaining. Their current #1 is 31-year-old Takuto Hayashi, who has received several NT callups but no international caps. http://www.vegalta.co.jp/news/press_release/2013/11/post-1195.html
Maybe moved to Rosso Kumamoto? No idea but here's him on a page for that club -- which Google translate seems to suggest is about a short-term loan. http://roasso-k.com/news/news_view.htm?id=1027
Schmidt made four starts for Roasso Kumamoto in J.2, but he is back with Vegalta Sendai now, as he subsequently started for them in the J-League Cup.
Back on loan with Kumamoto. Vegalta Sendai have loaned promising talent Daniel Schmidt to J2 League side Roasso Kumamoto http://t.co/SFPgC4zhEg pic.twitter.com/x2tW9GAM8z— J.LEAGUE Official (English) (@J_League_En) June 2, 2015
http://www.transfermarkt.com/daniel-schmidt/leistungsdaten/spieler/158799/plus/?saison=ges Academy? @bungadiri
Schmidt was named Roasso Kumamoto's player of the 2015 season by supporters, making 31 appearances in all competitions. http://www.jleague.jp/awards/2015/mip/j2.html
Actually, Matsumoto was relegated and is playing J2 this season. Still interesting, if he was a year younger he could have been part of Japan's Olympic setup. Factoids: Dan lived in Illinois until he was 2; English is spoken in his home; he had an offer to join Vegalta Sendai after high school but chose to go to college for playing time; he was a defensive midfielder until he started high school. Highlight clip from last season:
Daniel is holding down the fort well from what I can see. Yamaga are 2nd place in J2 with 50 Points, all 25 league matches played and he and the defense have only conceded 20 Goals against(0.80 GAA & 11 Clean Sheets for Schmidt ) which is 2nd best in the division as well. Hope he and Yamaga rides this success all the way back to promotion to J1
Schmidt's performances at Matsumoto earned him a callup for a 3-day, goalkeeper-only Japan NT camp along with 5 other J-League based keepers. His club currently sits in an automatic promotion spot, in large part to Dan's play - his career J2 League GAA of 0.77 is #1 all time among 2nd division keepers with 5,400 minutes played or more.
Dan will return to his hometown and parent club Sendai for the 2017 season, having had an excellent campaign for Matsumoto and missing out on promotion through the playoffs. This analytics website named him to the J2 team of the season, based not only on his shot-stopping but also his outstanding build-up play. He was also recently featured in a long-form article in a national soccer magazine, where he shared that he briefly quit soccer in junior high (he was a DM then) when he got schooled by a non-soccer player in PE class, but returned as a goalkeeper after a flirtation with volleyball. Dan should have a good shot at the starting GK role at Sendai, where none of the squad keepers managed to hold down a permanent spot during 2016.
Some news from Japan as goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt started in Vegalta Sendai's win over Shimizu S-Pulse. https://t.co/kLKMaCMJ4M #YanksAbroad— Yanks Abroad (@YanksAbroad) May 2, 2017