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Yoichiro Kakitani
柿谷 曜一朗
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-01-03) 3 January 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Osaka, Japan
Height 1.76 m
Playing position Forward, attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club Tokushima Vortis
Number 8
Youth career
1994–2005 Cerezo Osaka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2006–2014 Cerezo Osaka 129 (37)
2009–2011 → Tokushima Vortis (loan) 97 (14)
2014–2015 FC Basel 18 (4)
2016–2021 Cerezo Osaka 124 (20)
2021–2022 Nagoya Grampus 57 (5)
2023– Tokushima Vortis 0 (0)
National team‡
2005–2007 Japan U17 9 (6)
2007–2009 Japan U20 8 (3)
2013–2014 Japan 18 (5)
Honours
Cerezo Osaka
Winner J.League Cup 2017
Winner Emperor's Cup 2017
Representing  Japan
AFC U-16 Championship
Gold 2006 Singapore
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 January 2023, 21:23 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2014

Yoichiro Kakitani (柿谷 曜一朗, Kakitani Yōichirō) (born 3 January 1990) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward or an attacking midfielder for Tokushima Vortis.

Club career

Cerezo Osaka

Born in Osaka, Kakitani joined Cerezo Osaka's youth team at the age of 4. In 2006, he signed his first professional contract with Cerezo at 16 – the club record for the youngest player signed to a professional contract. He played his first J-League game on 26 November 2006. He also trained with the Arsenal F.C. and Inter Milan youth teams.

Kakitani entered the e-School of Human Sciences, Waseda University in 2008. Kakitani was loaned to Tokushima Vortis on 18 June 2009 and returned to Cerezo Osaka in 2012.

Basel

On 7 July 2014 FC Basel announced that they had signed Kakitani on a four-year contract. Kakitani joined Basel to the start of the 2014–15 Swiss Super League season. He joined the team on 17 July for their 2014–15 season under head coach Paulo Sousa. Kakitani played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the Stockhorn Arena on 2 August, coming on as a substitute for Mohamed Elneny as Basel won 3–2 against Thun. He scored his first goal for his new club one week later, on 9 August, in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park as Basel won 4–1 against Zürich. The season 2014–15 was a successful one for Basel. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage. They reached the knockout phase on 9 December 2014, as they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool. But they were knocked out of the competition by Porto in the round of 16. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row. In the 2014–15 Swiss Cup Basel reached the final. However for the third time in a row they finished as runners-up. However, Kakitani failed to make a lasting impression in this season under trainer Paulo Sousa. Of the 50 competition matches (36 Swiss League fixtures – 6 Swiss Cup and 8 Champions League) that Basel played that season, Kakitani appeared in just 28.

In their following season new head coach was Urs Fischer and under him Kakitani played only in seven games. Being unhappy, he decided to return to Japan. During his 18 months with the club, Kakitani played a total of 41 games for Basel scoring a total of 14 goals. 18 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, six in the Swiss Cup, three in the 2014–15 Champions League and 14 were friendly games. He scored four goals in the domestic league, four in the cup and the other six were scored during the test games.

Return to Cerezo Osaka

Unable to establish himself at Basel in the first half of the 2015–2016 season, Kakitani left the club in early January 2016 returning to his home club Cerezo Osaka which had been relegated to the J2 League during his absence. The team has been playing in the J1 League since the 2017 season.

Return to Tokushima Vortis

On 6 January 2023, Kakitani announcement officially return to former club, Tokushima Vortis for upcoming 2023 season, he played for the club on loan in the middle of the 2009 season.

International career

He was named Most Valuable Player in the AFC U-17 Championship 2006 after helping Japan win the tournament, scoring 4 goals.

Kakitani scored two goals at 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea. Against France he scored a spectacular goal from the halfway line.

Kakitani debuted for the Japan senior team at the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup. He played his first international match against China, scoring his first international goal in the 59th minute. He then scored twice against South Korea in a 2–1 win. His three goals from three matches made him top goalscorer as Japan won the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Emperor's Cup J. League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cerezo Osaka 2006 J1 League 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2007 J2 League 21 2 1 0 – 0 0 22 2
2008 24 0 0 0 – 0 0 24 0
2009 6 2 – – 0 0 6 2
Total 52 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 53 4
Tokushima Vortis 2009 J2 League 27 4 1 0 – 0 0 28 4
2010 34 4 2 0 – 0 0 36 4
2011 36 6 1 0 – 0 0 37 6
Total 97 14 4 0 – 0 0 101 14
Cerezo Osaka 2012 J1 League 30 11 3 1 7 5 0 0 40 17
2013 34 21 0 0 8 3 0 0 42 24
2014 14 1 0 0 0 0 8 4 22 5
Total 78 33 3 1 15 8 8 4 104 46
FC Basel 2014–15 Swiss Super League 14 3 3 4 – 3 0 20 7
2015–16 4 1 2 0 – 0 0 6 1
Total 18 4 5 4 – 3 0 26 8
Cerezo Osaka 2016 J2 League 22 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 6
2017 J1 League 34 6 5 1 1 1 0 0 40 8
2018 21 4 0 0 2 0 3 1 26 5
2019 23 3 1 1 4 0 0 0 28 4
2020 24 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 28 2
Total 124 20 6 2 11 2 3 1 144 25
Nagoya Grampus 2021 J1 League 36 5 4 0 5 2 7 2 52 9
2022 21 0 2 0 6 1 – 29 1
Total 57 5 6 0 11 3 7 2 81 10
Tokushima Vortis 2023 J2 League 37 7 0 0 – 0 0 37 7
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 440 86 20 3 43 16 21 7 530 112

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan U17 2005 1 0
2006 5 4
2007 3 2
Total 9 6
Japan U20 2007 4 2
2008 2 0
2009 2 1
Total 8 3
Japan 2013 9 4
2014 9 1
Total 18 5

Under-17

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kakitani goal.
List of international goals scored by Yoichiro Kakitani
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 5 September 2006 Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore  Singapore 1–0 1–1 2006 AFC U-17 Championship
2 11 September 2006 Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore  Iran 1–0 1–1 2006 AFC U-17 Championship
3 14 September 2006 Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore  Syria 2–0 2–0 2006 AFC U-17 Championship
4 17 September 2006 Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore  North Korea 1–2 4–2 2006 AFC U-17 Championship
5 19 August 2007 Gwangyang Football Stadium, Gwangyang, South Korea  Haiti 3–1 3–1 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup
6 25 August 2007 Gwangyang Football Stadium, Gwangyang, South Korea  France 1–0 1–2 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup

Under-20

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kakitani goal.
List of international goals scored by Yoichiro Kakitani
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 12 November 2007 Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand  Myanmar 8–0 8–0 2008 AFC Youth Championship qualification
2 14 November 2007 Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand  Laos 2–0 5–0 2008 AFC Youth Championship qualification
3 7 December 2009 Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Hong Kong  Macau 4–0 5–0 2009 East Asian Games

Senior team

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kakitani goal.
List of international goals scored by Yoichiro Kakitani
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 July 2013 Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea  China 2–1 3–3 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
2 28 July 2013 Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul, South Korea  South Korea 1–0 2–1 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
3 2–1
4 16 November 2013 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 1–1 3–2 Friendly
5 4 June 2014 Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, United States  Costa Rica 3–1 3–1 Friendly

Honours

Basel

Cerezo Osaka

Nagoya Grampus

Japan

  • EAFF East Asian Cup: 2013

Japan U-17

  • AFC U-17 Championship: 2006

Individual

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Yōichirō Kakitani para niños

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