Daigo Kobayashi

Daigo Kobayashi (小林 大悟, Kobayashi Daigo, born 19 February 1983) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for USL Championship club Birmingham Legion FC.

Daigo Kobayashi
Daigo Kobayashi with Stabæk in 2009
Personal information
Full name Daigo Kobayashi
Date of birth (1983-02-19) 19 February 1983
Place of birth Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Birmingham Legion
Number 16
Youth career
1998–2000 Shimizu Commercial High School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Tokyo Verdy 104 (4)
2006–2008 Omiya Ardija 90 (14)
2009 → Stabæk (loan) 29 (8)
2010 Iraklis 14 (0)
2011–2012 Shimizu S-Pulse 29 (0)
2013 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 30 (2)
2014–2017 New England Revolution 94 (2)
2018 Las Vegas Lights 32 (4)
2019– Birmingham Legion 19 (0)
National team
2003 Japan U-20 4 (0)
2006 Japan 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 October 2019

Club career

He started up his professional career at Tokyo Verdy where he won the 2004 Emperor's Cup and the 2005 Japanese Super Cup.[1] In the same year, they were relegated from the J1 League, which marked his end in Tokyo. He signed for Omiya Ardija at the start of the 2006 season and quickly became their star player.[2]

The club's successes were limited and after the 2008 season, he was offered the chance to go on trial at Norwegian club Stabæk. His trial was a success, and in February 2009 he was loaned out to the Norwegian champions.[3] He was given the number 10 shirt, which had recently been worn by Veigar Páll Gunnarsson.[4]

On 8 March, he made his official debut for Stabæk in the 2009 Super Cup where the league champions won 3–1 against cup champions Vålerenga, with Kobayashi playing an important part, getting on the score-sheet with a free kick and showing trickery with the ball. Stabæk decided to not to buy him at the end of the season.

On 27 January 2010, Kobayashi signed on a free transfer to the Greek team Iraklis Thessaloniki for 18 months.[5] Kobayashi only appeared in 15 matches for Iraklis. At the end of the 2010–11 season he returned to Japan, signing a deal with Shimizu S-Pulse.

During January 2013 he went on trial with Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the MLS.[6] He impressed during his trial stint and signed with the club for the 2013 season. The club declined to offer him a contract for the 2014 season and his rights were traded to New England Revolution before the start of the season in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft.[7]

In late 2015, Kobayashi received his U.S. green card, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[8]

In March 2018, Kobayashi joined Las Vegas Lights FC.[9]

In January 2019, Kobayashi signed with Birmingham Legion FC.[10]

National team

He represented Japan U-20 national team at the World Youth Championship in 2003, where they reached the quarter-finals before being beaten by eventual champions Brazil. He did not start their first group game, a loss against Colombia, but he started the next two which they won to secure a top spot, including a win against England. He further played in the round of 16 win against South Korea, but had to be replaced early in the quarter finals.[11] He also represented Japan U20 at the AFC Youth Championship in 2002, where they came second, after losing 1–0 in against South Korea in the final.

He earned his first cap for Japan in a friendly match against Trinidad and Tobago on 9 August 2006, coming on as a 56th-minute substitute for Koji Yamase.[12][13]

Statistics

Club
As of 2 August 2019[14][15][16][17]
Club Season League Domestic Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Tokyo Verdy 2001 J1 League 500000––50
2002 2111060––281
2003 1902050––260
2004 2705074––394
2005 3231151–1[lower-alpha 3]0395
Total 104491235001013710
Omiya Ardija 2006 J1 League 3392051––4010
2007 2421031––283
2008 3331061––404
Total 901440143000010817
Stabæk (loan) 2009 Tippeligaen 29843–6[lower-alpha 4]11[lower-alpha 5]14013
Iraklis 2009–10 Super League Greece 8000–––80
2010–11 6010–––70
Total 14010000000150
Shimizu S-Pulse 2011 J1 League 1200010––130
2012 1701072––252
Total 29010820000382
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2013 MLS 30221–––323
New England Revolution 2014 MLS 34020––3[lower-alpha 6]0390
2015 21010––1[lower-alpha 6]0230
2016 27110–––281
2017 12110–––131
Total 942500000401032
Las Vegas Lights 2018 USL 32420–––344
Birmingham Legion 2019 USL Championship 18010––00190
Career total 440342954510616152651
  1. Includes the Emperor's Cup, Norwegian Football Cup, Greek Football Cup, Canadian Championship, and U.S. Open Cup
  2. All appearances in the J.League Cup
  3. Appearance in the Japanese Super Cup
  4. Four appearances and one goal in the UEFA Champions League, two appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearance in the Superfinalen
  6. Appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs

International

Sources:[12][18]

Japan
YearAppsGoals
200610
Total10

Honours
gollark: What? Why? How would you be undepend™ at 11?
gollark: Fake their deaths, but then fake faking their deaths, but actually fake that.
gollark: Why/
gollark: It's only in the customs union, I þink, so you can't just fleeeeee™ to the wider EU.
gollark: Hmm, well, turkey, I suppose.

References
  1. "Daigo's Diary". goo blog.
  2. "Interview with Mike Furtho on Daigo Kobayashi". JapaneseSoccer.net. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009.
  3. "Here is Stabæk's new number 10" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 11 February 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  4. "Meet our new player at Thursday" (in Norwegian). Stabæk Fotball. 11 February 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009.
  5. "Iraklis sign Japanese star". Ontheminute.com. 2 February 2010.
  6. "Whitecaps: Rennie looks to J1 League for midfield linchpin". 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013.
  7. "Whitecaps FC deal Daigo Kobayashi's MLS rights to New England Revolution | Vancouver Whitecaps FC". Whitecapsfc.com. 28 November 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  8. "Revolution Transfers 2015: Daigo Kobayashi has a Green Card - The Bent Musket". The Bent Musket. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  9. "LIGHTS FC Q&A WITH ... MIDFIELDER DAIGO KOBAYASHI". lasvegaslightsfc.com. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  10. Team, Legion FC Communications (21 January 2019). "Legion FC Signs Midfielder Daigo Kobayashi". Birmingham Legion FC. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  11. "FIFA Player Statistics: Daigo KOBAYASHI". FIFA.com. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  12. Japan National Football Team Database
  13. "Japan 2 – 0 Trinidad & Tobago". WorldSoccerNews.com. August 2006. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008.
  14. Daigo Kobayashi at Soccerway
  15. "Kobayashi career stats". Football Database.eu. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  16. "Kobayashi Stabæk stats" (in Norwegian). NIFS. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  17. Daigo Kobayashi at Major League Soccer
  18. "Daigo Kobayashi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
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