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Mana Iwabuchi
Mana Iwabuchi (岩渕 真奈, Iwabuchi Mana; born 18 March 1993) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or attacking midfielder. She was most recently with Tottenham Hotspur and has previously played for Aston Villa, Bayern Munich, 1899 Hoffenheim, and Arsenal. She has also represented the Japan national team.
Iwabuchi is regarded as a gifted technician with an incredible weight of pass and excellent ball control. Due to her diminutive stature and ability to dribble past opponents with ease, she is affectionately nicknamed 'Manadona' in her home country, after the Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
Known to many as the face of women's football in Japan, Iwabuchi has represented the Japan women's national football team since age 16, enjoying some of her greatest successes on the world stage. She made her full international debut in 2010, and she has since earned over 85 caps and scored 37 goals for Japan. Having participated in three consecutive FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments, Iwabuchi was part of the squad won the title in 2011, appearing as a substitute in the final in Germany when she was just 18 years old. Iwabuchi also has a silver medal to her name from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and a gold medal from the 2018 Asian Games.
Iwabuchi has been named in the IFFHS AFC Woman Team of the Decade, Asian Young Footballer of the Year twice, recipient of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Golden Ball, the AFC U-19 Women's Championship MVP and Golden Boot, the EAFF Women's Football Championship Golden Boot twice over, and the AFC Women's Asian Cup MVP. Amongst her list of accolades, she is also the youngest ever recipient (aged 18 years 5 months and 0 days) of the People's Honour Award, a prestigious government commendation bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan, when she received it as part of the World Cup-winning squad of 2011. The youngest person to win the honour individually, is the Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu (aged 23 years 6 months and 25 days).
On 1 September 2023, Iwabuchi announced her retirement from professional football. She has since been active as a pundit and football presenter on Japanese television.
Born and raised in Musashino, Iwabuchi began kicking a football and developing her love for the sport at the age of six. At the time, she was also enrolled in piano and ballet lessons. However, her older brother Ryota and the coach of his football club had been persuading her for about a year to join them.
Finally, at age eight, she followed in Ryota's footsteps and joined the local club team, Sekimae SC, where he played. Her talent was recognised early on, and she was invited to train with the older boys. The club was originally called 'Sekimae Boys Soccer Club', but because Iwabuchi became the first girl to join, they renamed the club to 'Sekimae Soccer Club'. A notable figure she was teammates with in her youth is well-known Japanese actor Ryo Ryusei, who commented years later that "she would be dribbling past boys with ease" from an early age and was one of the reasons he gave up on being a professional footballer as he watched her play and realised he would not be good enough.
Iwabuchi attended Komazawa Women's University and was admitted to the Faculty of Intercultural Studies.
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Mana Iwabuchi
Mana Iwabuchi (岩渕 真奈, Iwabuchi Mana; born 18 March 1993) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or attacking midfielder. She was most recently with Tottenham Hotspur and has previously played for Aston Villa, Bayern Munich, 1899 Hoffenheim, and Arsenal. She has also represented the Japan national team.
Iwabuchi is regarded as a gifted technician with an incredible weight of pass and excellent ball control. Due to her diminutive stature and ability to dribble past opponents with ease, she is affectionately nicknamed 'Manadona' in her home country, after the Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
Known to many as the face of women's football in Japan, Iwabuchi has represented the Japan women's national football team since age 16, enjoying some of her greatest successes on the world stage. She made her full international debut in 2010, and she has since earned over 85 caps and scored 37 goals for Japan. Having participated in three consecutive FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments, Iwabuchi was part of the squad won the title in 2011, appearing as a substitute in the final in Germany when she was just 18 years old. Iwabuchi also has a silver medal to her name from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and a gold medal from the 2018 Asian Games.
Iwabuchi has been named in the IFFHS AFC Woman Team of the Decade, Asian Young Footballer of the Year twice, recipient of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Golden Ball, the AFC U-19 Women's Championship MVP and Golden Boot, the EAFF Women's Football Championship Golden Boot twice over, and the AFC Women's Asian Cup MVP. Amongst her list of accolades, she is also the youngest ever recipient (aged 18 years 5 months and 0 days) of the People's Honour Award, a prestigious government commendation bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan, when she received it as part of the World Cup-winning squad of 2011. The youngest person to win the honour individually, is the Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu (aged 23 years 6 months and 25 days).
On 1 September 2023, Iwabuchi announced her retirement from professional football. She has since been active as a pundit and football presenter on Japanese television.
Born and raised in Musashino, Iwabuchi began kicking a football and developing her love for the sport at the age of six. At the time, she was also enrolled in piano and ballet lessons. However, her older brother Ryota and the coach of his football club had been persuading her for about a year to join them.
Finally, at age eight, she followed in Ryota's footsteps and joined the local club team, Sekimae SC, where he played. Her talent was recognised early on, and she was invited to train with the older boys. The club was originally called 'Sekimae Boys Soccer Club', but because Iwabuchi became the first girl to join, they renamed the club to 'Sekimae Soccer Club'. A notable figure she was teammates with in her youth is well-known Japanese actor Ryo Ryusei, who commented years later that "she would be dribbling past boys with ease" from an early age and was one of the reasons he gave up on being a professional footballer as he watched her play and realised he would not be good enough.
Iwabuchi attended Komazawa Women's University and was admitted to the Faculty of Intercultural Studies.
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