, sometimes referred to as Yoshi Kawaguchi, is a former Japanese professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is a former captain of the Japan national team. Career Early career Born in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Kawaguchi studied at Shimizu Commercial High School and was a member of the football team there. After finishing high school, he joined the professional football team Yokohama Marinos (later Yokohama F. Marinos). Portsmouth Following impressive performances for both club and country, he moved to English club Portsmouth, signing for a club record £1.8m. However, he struggled to adapt to life in the English Football League, and struggled with the physical side of the First Division, notably in a 3–1 away defeat to Grimsby Town. Kawaguchi lost his place to veteran Dave Beasant after being held responsible for Portsmouth's 4–1 home defeat to underdogs Leyton Orient in the FA Cup. Despite his poor performances for Pompey he remained something of a cult hero with the fans, on account of his cheerful demeanour, and his insistence that he would work hard to regain his place. After a season of playing reserve team football, he made his final appearance for Portsmouth in the final game of the 2002–03 Football League First Division championship winning season, coming on at half time to a standing ovation in the 5–0 win against Bradford City. Nordsjælland Despite this brief reappearance, he realised that his future lay elsewhere, and moved on to Nordsjælland of the Danish league. Júbilo Iwata Prior to the 2005 Japanese football season, Kawaguchi returned to his home country when he signed with then-perennial title-contenders Júbilo Iwata. International career Early career (1996–2001) Kawaguchi was called up to the Japanese national team and played in the Atlanta Olympic games. He kept a clean sheet against Brazil in the first game. He played in Japan's first ever World Cup game in 1998 in a 1–0 defeat to Argentina, and throughout the tournament, his stellar performance prevented Japan from being scored more than one, with all three Japanese defeats were just one-goal margin. In 2001, Kawaguchi was Japan's first-choice goalkeeper as the team finished runner-up in the Confederations Cup. Captain (2004–2006) Kawaguchi is a noted penalty stopper, making two saves in the shootout against Jordan in the 2004 Asian Cup quarter-final and also saving from Croatia's Darijo Srna in the 2006 World Cup. During the 2007 Asian Cup he was instrumental in