Naoya Kondo
Naoya Kondo is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defender for Kashiwa Reysol, JEF United Chiba and Tokyo Verdy. He also made one appearance for the Japan national football team
Club career
Kondo was born in Utsunomiya on 3 October 1983. He joined J1 League club Kashiwa Reysol from the youth team in 2002. He got an opportunity to play in 2003 and became a regular center back in 2004. However he could not play many matches for repeated injuries from 2005. He became a regular player again in summer 2009. However Reysol was relegated J2 League end of 2009 season. In 2010, he played all 34 matches except 2 matches for suspension. Reysol also won the champions in J2 League and was returned to J1 in a year. In 2011, Reysol won the champions in J1 League. He was also selected Best Eleven award. From 2012, Reysol won the champions in 2012 Emperor's Cup and 2013 J.League Cup. However his opportunity to play decreased from 2014. In 2016, he moved to Chiba Prefecture's cross town rivals, JEF United Chiba in J2 League. He played as regular center back in 3 seasons. In 2019, he moved to J2 club Tokyo Verdy.Kondo retired from professional football in December 2020.
National team career
Kondo was a member of Japan U-20 national football team for 2003 World Youth Championship held in United Arab Emirates.On February 24, 2012, Kondo debuted for Japan national team against Iceland.