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Zion Suzuki's early life and childhood

Zion Suzuki's early life, childhood and career in Japan

Zion took plenty of time off to help himself grow taller!

Zion Suzuki(鈴木彩艶 in kanji) was born on August 21, 2002, to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother. His name is derived from "Zion," the "Holy Hill" mentioned in the Bible. Shortly after his birth in Newark, New Jersey, he moved to Japan and grew up in Urawa Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. Urawa Ward in Saitama City is famous as a soccer hotspot, and the local club team, the Urawa Reds, is known for its passionate fan base. As a result, playing soccer was a natural part of his upbringing.

Zion started playing soccer in kindergarten, and when he entered elementary school, he joined the local Daito Soccer Sports Youth Club. Although he played as a field player when he first joined the club, he gradually became more and more passionate about being a goalkeeper. As a result, whenever he played soccer with friends after school, he would take the initiative to be the goalkeeper. He practiced catching the ball after his friends kicked it to him almost every day.

Speaking about those days, he said, "I enjoyed stopping shots, so I've been playing goalkeeper ever since. I've never gotten tired of being a goalkeeper. To put it another way, I don't think I could play as a field player. If I were to say that I can only play goalkeeper, that's really all there is to it—but I just find it fun."

Additionally, when he was in elementary school, Zion would often go to the Urawa Reds' practice field to watch their training sessions. He would take in the sights of the professional goalkeepers training, then rush back to school on his bike and play soccer based on what he had seen. That's why he has always looked up to the Urawa Reds as a club.

The chance to become a member of that club he had always admired came when he was in fifth grade. The Urawa Reds were launching their junior team. Upon hearing the news, he immediately tried out and was accepted. There, a pivotal encounter that would shape the rest of his life awaited him: Mr. Kudo, who currently serves as a coach for the Urawa Reds' first team.

Mr. Kudo, who played as a goalkeeper during his playing career, had experience playing in Japan and later in Brazil. After returning to Japan, he transitioned to a coaching role; following a stint coaching high school students, he was set to serve as the goalkeeper coach for the Urawa Reds Juniors upon the team's launch.

Zion spoke about Mr. Kudo: "Mr. Kudo placed a high value on technique. Since it was a junior team, he had us do thorough technical training. Because he could also coach from the sidelines, he taught us the importance of build-up play and the different types of kicks. Learning to view the goalkeeper's role from a field player's perspective was a truly valuable experience."

Through his interactions with many children, Mr. Kudo reflected on Zion's outstanding potential. "It wasn't that he was exceptionally skilled from the start, or that he was a natural talent right from the beginning. He was just very receptive and had a remarkable ability to listen carefully to advice. On top of that, he had a talent for hard work, and that's what has led him to where he is today."

Zion's open-mindedness, combined with his sponge-like ability to absorb new information, accelerated his growth. For example, at the time, he was stiff and couldn't make saves with his arms and legs spread wide. However, when his coach pointed this out, he made it a daily routine to stretch for 30 minutes after his bath to improve his flexibility.

Furthermore, when he realized he struggled with throwing the ball, he worked with Mr. Kudo to review his form on video and practiced over and over again. Today, his 40- to 50-meter long throws are one of his greatest strengths, but this is the result of his sincere commitment to tackling challenges since he was a child.

zion's practice in urawa reds junior youthkaishu in high school

By the way, the roots of his humble and sincere character—such as his polite and courteous demeanor during interviews, his interactions with fans, and his post-game bows—lay in the lessons his mother taught him from childhood. Since he was a child, his mother had told him to "be independent." As a result, he had been washing his own practice clothes and uniforms since around the fourth grade. By developing the habit of "taking care of his own things, he grew to feel a deeper sense of gratitude for the small, everyday acts of kindness that parents and other adults often do for him. This likely contributed to his humilit.

Even after entering middle school, Zion continued to hone his skills as a goalkeeper in the Urawa Reds' youth system. However, he didn't practice every day. From his first year of middle school until the winter of his second year, he practiced only once a week—or at most, twice.

Mr. Kudo spoke about that time, saying, "The reason I limited his practice to once or twice a week from his first to second year of middle school was because my main priority was to help him grow taller. At the time, there was a theory that excessive training during the growth period could stunt growth. For example, the club had the real-life case of Atsuki Ito (who, as of 2026, plays for Bolton in the Premier League), who was four years older than him. When Ito was in middle school, he was out for an long period due to an injury, and that's when he shot up in height. Based on that case, the club decided to take a similar approach with Zion."

At first, he wasn't enthusiastic about this approach. However, he decided that "it was necessary to give it a try for the sake of his future." Zion, who was about 170 centimeters tall when he entered middle school, was projected by the club to reach a height of 180 centimeters based on his parents' heights and other factors. For a goalkeeper, the taller they are, the wider the area they can cover, and the better they are at handling high balls. Whether he would exceed 180 centimeters was the key to the success or failure of this approach.

While the team practiced five days a week, Zion—starting in his first year of middle school—was the only one who had many rest days, and there were many days when he would go home after just light training. Precisely because he practiced only once or twice a week, he never cut corners during practice. Furthermore, he took the initiative to identify his own weaknesses and devise ways to improve. Even when the coach praised him for a great save during practice, he would respond with self-criticism: "If I'd had a better center of gravity in my stance, I could have caught that ball." He analyzed his own performance, pinpointed areas for improvement, and immediately set about making adjustments.

On top of that, starting in his second year of middle school, he sent an email to his coach after every practice. These weren't just casual reflections on the practice; they contained specific details about what he needed to improve and areas for self-critique. Zion was the only one on the team who never failed to send one. On the few days they had practice, he arrived earlier than anyone else and left last. He handled all the pre-practice equipment setup by himself before beginning his own warm-up.

While honing his skills through limited practice, Zion grew more than 10 cm during a period when he cut back on training starting in his first year of junior high school. His height increased from 170 cm to over 185 cm during his middle school years, eventually reaching his current height of 190 cm. In modern soccer, a goalkeeper's size is considered extremely important. Vahid Halilhodžić, who was the Japan national team coach at the time, had even stated, "A national team goalkeeper must be at least 190 cm tall." Riding this momentum, Zion began being called up to the U-15 Japan national team starting in his third year of middle school. Furthermore, during the Japan Club Youth Championship in the summer of 2017, he was also called up to join the Japan national team for a tournament with players from the next older age group.

Then, on February 1, 2019, Zion signed a professional contract with the Urawa Reds at the age of 16 years, 5 months, and 11 days—the youngest in the club's history. However, after turning pro, although he made the bench, he struggled to get playing time in official matches. This was because the team had Shusaku Nishikawa as its starting goalkeeper. He finally made his official debut in 2021, two years after turning pro. With this appearance, he became the youngest goalkeeper in club history to play in an official match.

From the very start of the match, he remained composed in goal and played short passes to build up the attack. He also dove sideways to block a mid-range shot that bounced right in front of him, making for an excellent debut. However, after his debut, first-choice goalkeeper Nishikawa took the field for most matches, and he was limited to just a few appearances in 2022. As a result, he decided to transfer abroad in 2023 in search of more playing time. He received a 900 million yen offer from Manchester United but turned it down, choosing instead to join Sint-Truiden in Belgium.

Zion commented on this, saying, "I wondered if I was at the level to play for Manchester United. At that time, I thought it would be difficult since I wasn't getting playing time in Japan. However, even if I can't go there right now, I'm determined to make the move in a few years. I want to keep steadily improving."

He then transferred from Sint-Truiden to Parma in Italy's Serie A. In May 2026, he was selected for the Japanese national team for the World Cup and started in all four matches. He later transferred from Parma to Aston Villa in the Premier League.

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