Takayuki Morimoto

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Personal information
Takayuki Morimoto
Full name	Takayuki Morimoto
Date of birth	May 7, 1988
Place of birth	Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Height	180cm
Position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Tokyo Verdy 1969
Youth clubs
?-1998 1998-2001 2001-2004	Tsudayama FC Verdy Junior Verdy Junior Youth
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2004-2006 2006-	Tokyo Verdy 1969 Calcio Catania (loan)	36 (5) 0 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 20, 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of July 20, 2006.

Takayuki Morimoto (森本貴幸, Morimoto Takayuki^?, born May 7, 1988 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan) is a footballer who plays for Calcio Catania of the Italian Serie A. Morimoto holds the record for the youngest Japanese player to make his professional debut and the youngest scorer in J. League history. Japanese football observer Jeremy Walker has compared Morimoto to a young Ronaldo for the combination of his size, strength and speed.^[1]

1 Career
2 Honors
- 2.1 Individual Honors
- 2.2 Team
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Career

On May 13, 2004, Morimoto appeared in his J. League debut for Tokyo Verdy 1969 against Jubilo Iwata at the age of 15 years, 10 months and 6 days, a league record. He scored his first goal against JEF United Ichihara on May 5 that year, two days before his 16th birthday, also a league record.^[2] He captured the J. League Rookie of the Year Award that year.^[3]

Morimoto has represented Japan at the U-20 level at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and the 2004 AFC Youth Championship.

On July 23, 2006, Tokyo Verdy 1969 announced a one-year loan deal that sends Morimoto to Catania of Serie A.^[4]

[edit] Honors

[edit] Individual Honors

J-League Young Player of the Year: 2004

[edit] Team

Emperor's Cup: 2005
Xerox Super Cup: 2005

[edit] References

^ Walker, Jeremy. "A view from a Brit: Mboma gives fatherly advice to Morimoto", 2004-04-08. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
^ "Morimoto, 15, breaks J-League record", ESPNsoccernet, 2004-05-05. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
^ Japan - J-League Awards. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
^ "Japanese teen Morimoto seals loan move to Italy", Reuters, 2006-07-23. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.

[edit] External links

Tokyo Verdy 1969 profile (Japanese)
The first website about Takayuki Morimoto

Preceded by Daisuke Nasu	J-League Young Player of the Year 2004	Succeeded by Robert Cullen

Calcio Catania - Current Squad
1 Pantanelli \| 2 Sardo \| 3 Falsini \| 4 Sottil \| 5 Minelli \| 6 Stovini \| 7 Vargas \| 8 Edusei \| 9 Corona \| 10 Mascara \| 11 Del Core \| 12 Ferrante \| 13 Izco \| 14 Biso \| 15 Morimoto \| 16 Polito \| 17 Baiocco \| 18 Lucenti \| 20 Rossini \| 21 Silvestri \| 22 Nardini \| 23 Colucci \| 24 Spinesi \| 25 Millesi \| 26 Caserta \| 32 García \| 33 Anastasi \| 34 César \| Coach: Marino