Hotaru Yamaguchi

Hotaru Yamaguchi
Personal information
Full name Hotaru Yamaguchi
Date of birth (1990-10-06) 6 October 1990
Place of birth Nabari, Mie, Japan
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
Cerezo Osaka
Number 10
Youth career
2003–2008 Cerezo Osaka Youth
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2015 Cerezo Osaka 142 (11)
2016 Hannover 96 6 (0)
2016– Cerezo Osaka 19 (1)
National team
2010–2012 Japan U23 29 (1)
2013– Japan 27 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 February 2017.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 October 2016

Hotaru Yamaguchi (山口 螢, Yamaguchi Hotaru, born 6 October 1990) is a Japanese footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cerezo Osaka and the Japanese national team.[2]

Club career

Early career

Yamaguchi began playing football in the third grade, playing mostly as an attacking midfielder. Upon entering junior high, he participated in trials with the Cerezo Osaka, Gamba Osaka and Kyoto Purple Sanga youth academies and ultimately joined the Cerezo Under-15 team, from whom he received an invitation on the spot. He enjoyed steady progress at the club, being selected to be part of the first entering class of the Japan Football Association Elite Program at the end of his first year. In 2006 Yamaguchi was promoted to the Cerezo Under-18 team, which later won the JFA Prince League U-18 in the 2008 season, in which he served as captain and was named league MVP.

Cerezo Osaka

Along with academy teammate Yusuke Maruhashi, Yamaguchi was promoted to the senior team in 2009, spending three months of the season training with the Palmeiras Under-21 academy. He was named to the Japan Under-21 team in his second season and played in all of the matches in a gold medal campaign at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Yamaguchi began to receive substantial playing time with Cerezo in 2011, scoring his first league goal on Matchday 24 against Urawa Reds. He also continued to represent Japan under Takashi Sekizuka in qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He followed up by winning a regular position in the Cerezo side in 2012, combining with Takahiro Ogihara in central midfield for both club and country, being named to the Under-23 team representing Japan at the 2012 Summer Olympics, contributing to a fourth-place finish at the tournament. The addition of Fábio Simplício resulted in Yamaguchi being increasingly deployed as an attacking midfielder toward the latter part of the season, which he finished with 30 appearances.

In July 2013, Yamaguchi received his first callup to the senior Japan side by Alberto Zaccheroni for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, where he played in all three matches and was named tournament MVP.

Hannover 96

On 21 December 2015, Hannover 96 announced that they signed Yamaguchi.[3]

Career statistics

Club

Updated to 23 February 2017.[4]

Club Season Division League Cup League Cup Continental Other1 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cerezo Osaka 2009 J2 League 300030
2010 J1 League 20002040
2011 171400020231
2012 3024260404
2013 3460081427
2014 191100080281
2015 J2 League 3510020371
2016 1911020221
Total 161121021611004020115
Hannover 96 2015–16 Bundesliga 600060
Total 600060
Career total 167121021611004020715

1Includes J2 Play-offs.

    International goals

    Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.[5]
    No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
    1. 5 August 2015 Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China  South Korea 1–1 1–1 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup
    2. 6 October 2016 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan  Iraq 2–1 2–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

    Honours

    Japan

    Individual

    References

    1. "National Team Squad". jfa.or.jp. Japan Football Association. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
    2. "Stats Centre: Hotaru Yamaguchi Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
    3. "96 verpflichtet japanischen Nationalspieler Yamaguchi". Retrieved 2015-12-22.
    4. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 145 out of 289)
    5. "Yamaguchi, Hotaru". National Football Teams. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
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