Former Japan defender Naoki Matsuda remained in a “critical condition” after collapsing on the pitch during practice with his club Tuesday. The 34-year-old, who played for Japan at the 2002 World Cup, went into cardio-respiratory arrest, according to his JFL team Matsumoto Yamaga. Medics rushed to Matsuda's aid after he collapsed some 35 minutes after training began at 0930 local time. Yamaga president Hiroshi Otsuki told a news conference Matsuda had been put on an artificial respirator to keep his blood circulating, adding that the player's condition remained “very bad.” Doctors suspect the player may have suffered a heart attack after he arrived at hospital unconscious and not having responded to heart massage, his club said. Matsuda represented the Yokohama F. Marinos for the vast majority of his career, being promoted to the first team in 1995, at the age of 18. He scored his first goal for the club on Sept. 30 of that year, at Mitsuzawa Stadium, and went on to appear in more than 500 official games for the Yokohama side, helping it to three J. League Division 1 titles. Internationally, he represented Japan at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, both played on home soil, and also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2011, after nearly 20 years with the same club, Matsuda signed with lowly Matsumoto Yamaga FC, in the Japan Football League.
