Hotaru Yamaguchi

Hotaru Yamaguchi (山口 蛍, Yamaguchi Hotaru, born 6 October 1990) is a Japanese footballer who plays as a midfielder for Vissel Kobe. He is also a member of the Japanese national team.[2]

Hotaru Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi lining up for Japan at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
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(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Vissel Kobe
Number 5
Youth career
2003–2008 Cerezo Osaka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2015 Cerezo Osaka 142 (11)
2016 Hannover 96 6 (0)
2016–2018 Cerezo Osaka 84 (3)
2019– Vissel Kobe 34 (3)
National team‡
2010–2012 Japan U23 29 (1)
2013– Japan 48 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:00, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2019

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 & Japanese National Team

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] Yamaguchi played for Hannover 96 in 2016, however returned to Cerezo Osaka mid-season.

International career

In May 2018 he was named in Japan's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[4]

Career statistics

Club
As of 19 February 2019[5]
Club Season Division League Cup League Cup Continental Other1 Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cerezo Osaka 2009 J2 League 3000–––30
2010 J1 League 200020––40
2011 171400020–231
2012 3024260––404
2013 3460081––427
2014 191100080–281
2015 J2 League 35100––20371
2016 19110––20221
2017 J1 League 3225120––393
2018 330102040–400
Total 226141632011404028018
Hannover 96 2015–16 Bundesliga 6000–––60
Career total 232121632011404028618

1Includes J2 Play-offs.

    International
    As of 19 November 2019[6]
    Japan
    YearAppsGoals
    201380
    201470
    201591
    201661
    201780
    201870
    201931
    Total483

    International goals
    Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.[7]
    NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
    1.5 August 2015Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China South Korea1–11–12015 EAFF East Asian Cup
    2.6 October 2016Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan Iraq2–12–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
    3.19 November 2019Panasonic Stadium Suita, Suita, Japan Venezuela1–41–42019 Kirin Challenge Cup

    Honours

    Cerezo Osaka

    Vissel Kobe

    Japan

    • EAFF East Asian Cup: 2013

    Japan U-23

    Individual

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    References
    1. "National Team Squad". jfa.or.jp. Japan Football Association. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
    2. "Stats Centre: Hotaru Yamaguchi Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
    3. "96 verpflichtet japanischen Nationalspieler Yamaguchi". Retrieved 22 December 2015.
    4. "World Cup 2018: All the confirmed squads for this summer's finals in Russia".
    5. 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)
    6. Japan National Football Team Database(in Japanese)
    7. "Yamaguchi, Hotaru". National Football Teams. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
    8. "Andrés Iniesta skippers Vissel Kobe to first trophy in David Villa's final match". AS. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    9. "Andres Iniesta lifts Japan Super Cup after nine straight pen misses". ESPN. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
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