Mei Shimada
| Personal information | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mei Shimada | ||||||||||
| Date of birth | 8 May 2002 | ||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mitaka, Japan | ||||||||||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||
Current team | Urawa Reds | ||||||||||
| Number | 24 | ||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||
| 2022- | Urawa Reds | 78 | (22) | ||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||
| 2022 | U20 Japan | 3 | |||||||||
| 2023 | Japan national team | 4 | |||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 2025-09-25 | |||||||||||
Mei Shimada (born 8 May 2002) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward. Shimada is a gold medal winner for the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou. She currently plays for the WE League club Urawa Reds.
National team
In August 2022, Shima was selected to the U20 Japanese national team and played in 3 matches in the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[1] They finished as runner up.[2]
In August 2023, Shimada was selected into the Japanese national football team to play in the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China.[3] The games were actually played in 2023 due to delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the Asian games, Shimada played in four matches[4] and contributed to Japan's gold medal.[5]
Club career
After graduation from Fujimura Girls' High School, Shimawa was promoted from Urawa Reds' youth team to the senior team in 2021.[6][7]
Shimada is a key player in the Urawa Reds, she plays as a target forward to bring her team into the attack. Since 2022, she played in 78 matches and scored 22 goals, and contributed significantly to the two WE League championship in season 2022-23 and season 2023-24.[8] Sponichi described her as a "next generation heroine".[9] Since Kiko Seike, a key player in the previous seasons, transferred to the Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion, Shimada has to lead the front line of Urawa Reds.[10]
Shimada is well regarded by sports analysts. For e.g., in a tactical analysis by Football Tribe, the analyst pointed out that Urawa Reds was losing tactically to Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Ladies' 3-1-4-2 formation, but Shimada's "excellence at receiving passes in crowded areas" helped them over come the team from Osaka.[11]The club's manager also agreed that Shimada's off the ball movement created goal scoring chances for the team.[12]
In 2023, British media AnalyticsFC selected her as one of the rising stars in Japan, writing that "Her decision making is often on-point and she is rarely seen to hesitate in a critical do-or-die situation...for expected goals, touches in the box, and open play defensive headers she is in the top 10% of the league."[13]
References
- ^ "U-20女子W杯が開幕へ。今大会に臨む21名のヤングなでしこの強みと大会の見どころ（松原渓） - エキスパート". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "【Match Report】U-20日本女子代表、ブラジルとの接戦を制し史上初の連覇に王手". JFA｜公益財団法人日本サッカー協会 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ 成田敏彬 (2023-08-29). "アジア競技大会に臨む日本女子代表メンバーが発表! 女子W杯を戦ったなでしこジャパンからは千葉玲海菜のみの選出に". ゲキサカ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "第19回アジア競技大会（2022/杭州） 日程・結果". JFA｜公益財団法人日本サッカー協会 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ 日刊スポーツ. "【アジア大会】サッカー日本女子が北朝鮮に４－１圧勝V！ 大会史上初の連覇／ライブ詳細 - 日本代表 : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "REDSインタビュー。先輩FWから技術を吸収し、試合を決められる選手になる～島田芽依～｜REDSインタビュー｜レッズプレス!!". www.redspress.jp. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "昨季国内リーグ女王・浦和レッズレディースが継続路線で臨むWEリーグ。アカデミー強化方針も明らかに（松原渓） - エキスパート". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "【今季9得点】三菱重工浦和レッズレディース 島田芽依の抜群シュートテク⚽【2023-24 WEリーグ PLAYBACK】 - スポーツナビ「WEリーグ」". スポーツナビ (in Japanese). 2024-06-20. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "V3狙う三菱重工浦和FW島田芽衣「自分が引っ張っていかないと」 海外流出続くWEリーグの新たな主役へ - スポニチ Sponichi Annex サッカー". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "三菱重工浦和FW島田芽依、WEリーグ3連覇へゴール量産誓う「得点王を狙って、それくらいの勢いで」 - スポニチ Sponichi Annex サッカー". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ 今﨑新也 (2024-05-05). "劣勢の浦和Lを救った島田芽依。フィルミーノを彷彿とさせるパスレシーブとは". Football Tribe Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ 今﨑新也 (2024-05-05). "劣勢の浦和Lを救った島田芽依。フィルミーノを彷彿とさせるパスレシーブとは | 2ページ目 (2ページ中)". Football Tribe Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "Five Rising Stars from Japan's WE League". Analytics FC. 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2025-09-25.