Aya Sameshima

Aya Sameshima (鮫島 彩) is a Japanese footballer. Primarily a left back, she currently plays for Omiya Ardija Ventus in the WE League and has over 100 caps for the Japan national team.

Club career
Sameshima was born in Utsunomiya on 16 June 1987. She played youth football for Kawachi SC Juvenile between 1995 and 2002 and Tokiwagi Gakuen High School LSC from 2003 until 2005. In 2006, she joined TEPCO Mareeze, the club owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. During her time at Mareeze she lived in the J-Village Sports complex in Hirono near Fukushima, and like other players, she worked at the TEPCO-run Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to earn a living whilst playing for the club.

Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster, during which the team were in a training camp in the south of the country, the club pulled out of the L.League for the remainder of the season. Sameshima then began training with the Boston Breakers in March 2011, before signing for the club permanently, the first former Mareeze player to sign for another club. She made her debut for the Breakers against Sky Blue on 12 June as a second-half substitute for Alex Scott, becoming the first Japanese international to play for the club.

On 19 September 2011, Sameshima joined French club Montpellier, joining compatriot Rumi Utsugi at the club. She returned to Japan to play for Vegalta Sendai in 2012, before joining Houston Dash in January 2014. However, due to injuries she failed to contract, and rejoined Vegalta Sendai in July 2014. She subsequently signed for INAC Kobe Leonessa for the 2015 season.

National team career
After playing for the Japanese team at the AFC U-19 Championship in 2006, Sameshima made her full international debut on 10 March 2008, against Russia, and played in the 2008 Asian Cup that year, scoring the first goal in an 11–0 win over Chinese Taipei. In 2010, she played in the 2010 Asian Games, winning a gold medal as Japan won the tournament. In 2011, she was part of the Japan squad for the 2011 World Cup, playing in every match for the World Cup Champion Japanese team. She was part of the Japanese team that won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also played in the 2015 World Cup where Japan were the runners-up. In 2018, she played at 2018 Asian Cup, helping Japan win the championship. She played 103 games and scored 5 goals for Japan.

Honors

 * FIFA Women's World Cup
 * Winner, 2011
 * Football at the Asian Games
 * Gold Medal, 2010
 * East Asian Football Championship
 * Winner, 2010