Sōta Hirayama

Sōta Hirayama
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-06-06) 6 June 1985
Place of birth Kitakyūshū, Japan
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 F.C. Tokyo
Number 9
Youth career
2001–2003 Kunimi High School
2004–2005 Tsukuba University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Heracles Almelo 32 (8)
2006– F.C. Tokyo 153 (28)
National team‡
2003–2005 Japan U-20 8 (11)
2004–2007 Japan U-23 ? (3)
2010 Japan 4 (3)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 February 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 January 2011
Hirayama for FC Tokyo

Sōta Hirayama (平山 相太 Hirayama Sōta, born 6 June 1985 in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan), is a Japanese footballer who currently plays for FC Tokyo. He has represented Japan's U-20 team at the 2003 and 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, and the U-23 team at the 2004 Olympics.

Career

As a teenager, Hirayama attended Kunimi High School in Nagasaki Prefecture. There, he won the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament all three years at the school, leading the tournament in scoring in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, he played in the U-20 FIFA Youth Championship as a 17-year-old and scored two goals, including the game winner against Egypt to put Japan through to the knockout stage.[1]

After graduation in 2004, he enrolled at Tsukuba University instead of joining a professional club. That summer, Hirayama played in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the following year, played in his second FIFA World Youth Championship.

In July 2005, Hirayama joined the Eredivisie club Feyenoord on trial and a week later, he joined another Dutch side, the newly promoted Heracles Almelo.[2] He made his professional debut with Heracles on 20 August 2005 against ADO Den Haag, playing 15 minutes and scoring 2 goals.[3] He finished the 2005–2006 season with 31 appearances and 8 goals.

Although both Japan's senior side manager Zico and Japan Football Association chairman Saburo Kawabuchi praised Hirayama's progress with Heracles, he was not called up to Japan's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

On 4 September 2006, after the transfer period ended Heracles Almelo announced that Hirayama left the club by mutual consent and after being released he returned to Japan to finish his study.[4] Only a few days later he signed a contract with FC Tokyo without informing Heracles as a free agent, while he still had a contract until 2008 before his release. Heracles appealed to this unexpected move by Hirayama.[5]

International career

Hirayama has played for younger Japanese national teams including their U/20's and U/23's team. His debut for the senior team came on 6 January 2010 in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Yemen, and would be a game he would never forget. After 30 minutes, Japan were down 2–0, but Hirayama scored a hat trick to help Japan to a 3–2 victory. It was the first time in 80 years and the second time overall for a Japan player to score three goals on his debut. Takeo Wakabayashi last managed that in 1930.[6]

Career statistics

Updated to 23 February 2016.[7]

Club

Club Season League Cup League Cup Champions League Other* Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kunimi H.S. 2001 -21---21
2002 -33---33
Total -54---54
Heracles Almelo 2005–06 31800--20338
2006–07 1000---10
Total 32800--20348
F.C. Tokyo 2006 720000--72
2007 2053220--257
2008 2423284--358
2009 2643194--389
2010 2973361-113912
2011 10----10
2012 40001010-60
2013 2153130--276
2014 1932261--276
2015 200020--40
Total 1532817113710101120950
Career total 1853622153710103124862

*Includes other competitive competitions, including the UEFA Intertoto Cup Play-offs and Suruga Bank Championship.

International

[8]

Japan national team
YearAppsGoals
201043
Total43

International goals

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

Under-20

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 19 October 2003 Japan Sendai Stadium, Sendai  Chinese Taipei 2–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
2. 23 October 2003 Japan Sendai Stadium, Sendai  Macau 2–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
3. 23 October 2003 Japan Sendai Stadium, Sendai  Macau 3–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
4. 23 October 2003 Japan Sendai Stadium, Sendai  Macau 5–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
5. 23 October 2003 Japan Sendai Stadium, Sendai  Macau 6–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
6. 23 October 2003 Japan Sendai Stadium, Sendai  Macau 7–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
7. 5 December 2003 United Arab Emirates Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai  Egypt 1–0 1–0 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship
8. 12 December 2003 United Arab Emirates Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai  Brazil 1–4 1–5 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship
9. 25 September 2004 Malaysia Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru    Nepal 2–0 3–0 2004 AFC Youth Championship
10. 6 October 2004 Malaysia Cheras Stadium, Kuala Lumpur  South Korea 2–2 2–2 2004 AFC Youth Championship
11. 10 June 2005 Netherlands Parkstad Limburg Stadion, Kerkrade  Netherlands 1–2 1–2 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship

Under-23

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 8 February 2004 Japan Saitama Stadium, Saitama  Iran 1–0 1–1 Friendly Match (2004 Kirin Challenge Cup)
2. 30 July 2004 Japan National Stadium, Tokyo  Venezuela 2–0 4–0 Friendly Match (2004 Kirin Challenge Cup)
3. 3 December 2006 Qatar Qatar SC Stadium, Doha  Syria 1–0 1–0 2006 Asian Games

Senior team

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 6 January 2010 Yemen Ali Muhesen Stadium, Sana'a  Yemen 1–2 3–2 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2. 6 January 2010 Yemen Ali Muhesen Stadium, Sana'a  Yemen 2–2 3–2 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3. 6 January 2010 Yemen Ali Muhesen Stadium, Sana'a  Yemen 3–2 3–2 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Awards and honours

Club

F.C. Tokyo
2009
2010

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sota Hirayama.
  1. ↑ "Player to Watch: Hirayama hopes for Japan chance". FIFAworldcup.com. 30 January 2006. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
  2. ↑ "Hirayama to join Dutch club Heracles". Crisscross Japan. 8 August 2006. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
  3. ↑ "ADO Den Haag 1–2 SC Heracles Almelo". ESPNsoccernet. 20 August 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
  4. ↑ "Sota Hirayama verlaat Heracles Almelo". HeraclesAlmelo.nl. 4 September 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  5. ↑ "Hirayama nog niet van Heracles af". NOS.nl. 12 September 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2006.
  6. ↑ Japan rally past Yemen, qualify for 2011 Asian Cup
  7. ↑ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑", 10 February 2016, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411338 (p. 35 out of 289)
  8. ↑ Sōta Hirayama at National-Football-Teams.com
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