Risa Shimizu (清水 梨紗, Shimizu Risa, born June 15, 1996) is a Japanese professional football player who plays as a right-back for Women's Super League club West Ham United and the Japan national team.

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Risa Shimizu
清水 梨紗

Shimizu with Japan in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Risa Shimizu
Date of birth	(1996-06-15) June 15, 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth	Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	West Ham United
Number	3
Youth career
2009–2012	Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2022	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	165	(4)
2022–	West Ham United	32	(1)
International career‡
2012	Japan U-17	4	(1)
2018–	Japan	73	(4)
Medal record Representing  Japan AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 Jordan Asian Games 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Team AFC U-19 Women's Championship 2015 China AFC U-16 Women's Championship 2011 China
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:15, 17 December 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:15, 17 December 2023 (UTC)

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Born and raised in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture,^[1] Shimizu played youth football for Tokyo Verdy Beleza and subsequently began her professional career with the club in 2013.^[2] Shimizu moved to West Ham United in 2022.^[3]

She made her senior international debut for the Japan national team in 2018 and has since won 73 caps.

Shimizu was born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture on June 15, 1996. She began playing football aged seven years old, influenced by her two years older sister.^[1] Her family moved to Yokohama, in Kanagawa Prefecture the following year, and she joined local club FC Susukino Ladies. By the time she was ten, Shimizu was a prolific striker for her team in national junior competitions.^[4]

In 2009, aged 12, she was accepted into Menina, the nation's top youth academy of the club she would later play for, Tokyo Verdy Beleza. She initially played as a forward but was gradually converted into a midfielder, and eventually settled on the fullback position which she would specialise.^[5] While at the academy, she befriended and rose through the ranks with fellow players such as Yui Hasegawa and Yuka Momiki, all of whom would go on to play for the Japan national team together.^[6]

In addition to football, Shimizu was a talented runner from an early age and had competed in statewide marathon competitions at elementary level.^[7]

Shimizu was first called up to a training camp for the Japan U-14 national team in 2010. The next year, she participated in the 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship held in Nanjing, China. In 2012, she was selected to the Japan U-17 national team for 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, where she scored in a group stage win against Mexico.^[14]

She received her first senior cap for the Japan national team on 22 October 2017, in a 2–0 win against Switzerland in the MS&AD Cup.^[15] At the 2018 Algarve Cup, she played in her first international tournament at senior level, coming on as a substitute against the Netherlands. Shimizu cemented her place as the starting right-back for the national team that same year, starting all the matches in Japan's victorious 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup run where they defeated Australia 1–0 in the final to win their second consecutive title.^[16] This success was followed by a gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games, where Japan emerged champions of yet another closely contested final, with a 90th-minute goal at the death to win 1–0 over China.^[17]

She was selected to Japan's squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France and the 2020 Summer Olympics in her home country. She started all matches and played full games in both tournaments.

Shimizu was also part of Japan's squad that won the EAFF East Asian Football Championship in 2019 and 2022, and she was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament in the latter, as Japan went undefeated in the competition.

On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.^[18]

On August 8, she scored her first World Cup goal against Norway in the first round of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup knockout stage, contributing to advance to the quarterfinals.

Despite her relatively slender frame for a women's footballer, Shimizu is known for her relentless and aggressive defensive capabilities.^[19] However, the qualities she has garnered the most praise for are her especially high work-rate and stamina, earning a reputation as a right-back who can make repeated overlapping runs over the course of a full match, contributing as much to attacking plays as she does to defending. This is largely thanks to her experience as a marathon runner in her youth.^[20]

Shimizu is also proficient at occupying attacking spaces on the pitch and creating goalscoring opportunities for her teammates. As with many Japanese players that are noted for their technical abilities on the ball,^[21] Shimizu often plays a key role in assisting goals from the high degree of accuracy on her early crosses and penetrative passes into the penalty box following dribbles down the byline.^[22]

Tokyo Verdy Beleza

• Nadeshiko League: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
• Nadeshiko League Cup: 2016, 2018, 2019
• Empress's Cup: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• AFC Women's Club Championship: 2019

Japan U19

• AFC U-19 Women's Championship: 2015

Japan

• AFC Women's Asian Cup: 2018
• Asian Games: 2018
• EAFF Women's Football Championship: 2019, 2022

Individual

• Nadeshiko League Best Eleven: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• WE League Best Eleven: 2021-22
• WE League Outstanding Players Award: 2021-22
• EAFF Women's Football Championship MVP: 2022