Hotaru Yamaguchi

Hotaru Yamaguchi
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 Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
Cerezo Osaka
Number 41
Youth career
2003–2008 Cerezo Osaka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2015 Cerezo Osaka 142 (11)
2016 Hannover 96 6 (0)
2016– Cerezo Osaka 14 (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 15:57, 7 February 2016 (UTC).

‡ 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

As of 8 October 2015
Club Season Division League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cerezo Osaka 2009 J. League Division 2 3000--30
2010 J. League Division 1 200020-40
2011 171400020231
2012 3024260-404
2013 3460081-427
2014 191100080281
2015 J2 League 3710000-371
2016 141000000141
Total 156129216110019215
Hannover 96 2015–16 Bundesliga 6000-60
Career total 162129216110019815

    Honours

    Japan

    Individual

    References

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