Sōta Hirayama

Sōta Hirayama

Personal information
Date of birth	(1985-06-06) 6 June 1985
Place of birth	Kitakyūshū, Japan
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current team	F.C. Tokyo
Number	9
Youth career
2001–2003	Kunimi High School
2004–2005	Tsukuba University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2006	Heracles Almelo	32	(8)
2006–	F.C. Tokyo	151	(28)
National team‡
2003–2005	Japan U-20	?	(11)
2004–2007	Japan U-23	?	(3)
2010	Japan	4	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 January 2015. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 January 2011

Hirayama for FC Tokyo

Sōta Hirayama (平山 相太, Hirayama Sōta, born 6 June 1985 in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan), is a Japanese footballer who currently plays for FC Tokyo. He has represented Japan's U-20 team at the 2003 and 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, and the U-23 team at the 2004 Olympics.

Career

As a teenager, Hirayama attended Kunimi High School in Nagasaki Prefecture. There, he won the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament all three years at the school, leading the tournament in scoring in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, he played in the U-20 FIFA Youth Championship as a 17-year-old and scored two goals, including the game winner against Egypt to put Japan through to the knockout stage.^[1]

After graduation in 2004, he enrolled at Tsukuba University instead of joining a professional club. That summer, Hirayama played in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the following year, played in his second FIFA World Youth Championship.

In July 2005, Hirayama joined the Eredivisie club Feyenoord on trial and a week later, he joined another Dutch side, the newly promoted Heracles Almelo.^[2] He made his professional debut with Heracles on 20 August 2005 against ADO Den Haag, playing 15 minutes and scoring 2 goals.^[3] He finished the 2005–2006 season with 31 appearances and 8 goals.

Although both Japan's senior side manager Zico and Japan Football Association chairman Saburo Kawabuchi praised Hirayama's progress with Heracles, he was not called up to Japan's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

On 4 September 2006, after the transfer period ended Heracles Almelo announced that Hirayama left the club by mutual consent and after being released he returned to Japan to finish his study.^[4] Only a few days later he signed a contract with FC Tokyo without informing Heracles as a free agent, while he still had a contract until 2008 before his release. Heracles appealed to this unexpected move by Hirayama.^[5]

International career

Hirayama has played for younger Japanese national teams including their U/20's and U/23's team. His debut for the senior team came on 6 January 2010 in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Yemen, and would be a game he would never forget. After 30 minutes, Japan were down 2–0, but Hirayama scored a hat trick to help Japan to a 3–2 victory. It was the first time in 80 years and the second time overall for a Japan player to score three goals on his debut. Takeo Wakabayashi last managed that in 1930.^[6]

Career statistics

As of 1 January 2015

Club

^*Includes other competitive competitions, including the UEFA Intertoto Cup Play-offs and Suruga Bank Championship.

International

^[7]

International goals

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

Under-20

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	19 October 2003	Sendai Stadium, Sendai	Chinese Taipei	2–0	7–0	AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
2.	23 October 2003	Sendai Stadium, Sendai	Macau	2–0	7–0	AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
3.	23 October 2003	Sendai Stadium, Sendai	Macau	3–0	7–0	AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
4.	23 October 2003	Sendai Stadium, Sendai	Macau	5–0	7–0	AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
5.	23 October 2003	Sendai Stadium, Sendai	Macau	6–0	7–0	AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
6.	23 October 2003	Sendai Stadium, Sendai	Macau	7–0	7–0	AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
7.	5 December 2003	Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai	Egypt	1–0	1–0	2003 FIFA World Youth Championship
8.	12 December 2003	Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai	Brazil	1–4	1–5	2003 FIFA World Youth Championship
9.	25 September 2004	Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru	Nepal	2–0	3–0	2004 AFC Youth Championship
10.	6 October 2004	Cheras Stadium, Kuala Lumpur	South Korea	2–2	2–2	2004 AFC Youth Championship
11.	10 June 2005	Parkstad Limburg Stadion, Kerkrade	Netherlands	1–2	1–2	2005 FIFA World Youth Championship

Under-23

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	8 February 2004	Saitama Stadium, Saitama	Iran	1–0	1–1	Friendly Match (2004 Kirin Challenge Cup)
2.	30 July 2004	National Stadium, Tokyo	Venezuela	2–0	4–0	Friendly Match (2004 Kirin Challenge Cup)
3.	3 December 2006	Qatar SC Stadium, Doha	Syria	1–0	1–0	2006 Asian Games

Senior team

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	6 January 2010	Ali Muhesen Stadium, Sana'a	Yemen	1–2	3–2	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2.	6 January 2010	Ali Muhesen Stadium, Sana'a	Yemen	2–2	3–2	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3.	6 January 2010	Ali Muhesen Stadium, Sana'a	Yemen	3–2	3–2	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Awards and honours

Club

F.C. Tokyo

• J. League Cup: 1

2009

• Suruga Bank Championship: 1

2010

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sota Hirayama.

External links

• Rising Sun News profile
• Sōta Hirayama at National-Football-Teams.com

Japan men's football squad – 2004 Summer Olympics 1 Sogahata 2 Tulio 3 Moniwa 4 Nasu 5 Abe 6 Konno 7 Morisaki 8 Ono 9 Takamatsu 10 Matsui 11 Tanaka 12 Kikuchi 13 Komano 14 Ishikawa 15 Tokunaga 16 Ōkubo 17 Hirayama 18 Kurokawa Coach: Yamamoto