Sōta Hirayama Explained

Sota Hirayama
平山 相太
Fullname:Sota Hirayama
Birth Date:1985 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan
Position:Forward
Youthyears1:2001–2003
Youthclubs1:Kunimi High School
Collegeyears1:2004–2005
College1:University of Tsukuba
Years1:2005–2006
Clubs1:Heracles Almelo
Caps1:32
Goals1:8
Years2:2006–2016
Clubs2:FC Tokyo
Caps2:169
Goals2:33
Years3:2017
Clubs3:Vegalta Sendai
Caps3:0
Goals3:0
Totalcaps:201
Totalgoals:41
Nationalyears1:2003–2005
Nationalteam1:Japan U-20
Nationalcaps1:8
Nationalgoals1:3
Nationalyears2:2004
Nationalteam2:Japan U-23
Nationalcaps2:1
Nationalgoals2:0
Nationalyears3:2010
Nationalteam3:Japan
Nationalcaps3:4
Nationalgoals3:3

is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

As a teenager, Hirayama attended Kunimi High School in Nagasaki Prefecture. There, he won the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament in all years bar 2002. He is the tournament's top scorer, with 17 goals scored between 2001 and 2003, with his school participating in all three years of his high school days. After graduation in 2004, he enrolled at University of Tsukuba.

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. He made his professional debut with Heracles on 20 August 2005 against ADO Den Haag, playing 15 minutes and scoring 2 goals.[1] 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 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.[2] 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.[3]

Hirayama debuted in J1 League on 30 September 2006. After debut, his opportunity to play increased and he became a regular player from 2009. At 2009 J.League Cup, he scored a goal at Final and the club won the champions. However the club was relegated to J2 League end of 2010 season. In April 2011, he also broke his leg and he could only play one game. In 2012, the club returned to J1 League, however in May, he broke his leg again and he could hardly play in the match. From 2013 he played many matches as substitute. He moved to Vegalta Sendai in 2017. However he got hurt on the day after the opening game. He could not play for the injury in this season. In January 2018, he announced his retirement for many injuries.

International career

In 2003, Hirayama played for Japan U-20 national team in the 2003 World 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. In 2004, he played for Japan U-23 national team in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the following year, played in his second 2005 World Youth Championship.

His debut for the senior team came on 6 January 2010 in a 2011 Asian Cup qualification 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.[4] He also played at 2010 East Asian Football Championship in February. He played 4 games and scored 3 goals for Japan in 2010.[5]

Club statistics

[6] [7]

ClubSeasonLeagueCupLeague CupUEFAOtherTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Kunimi H.S.2001colspan="2"-21colspan="2"-colspan="2"-colspan="2"-21
2002colspan="2"-33colspan="2"-colspan="2"-colspan="2"-33
Totalcolspan="2"-54colspan="2"-colspan="2"-colspan="2"-54
Heracles Almelo2005/0631800colspan="2"-colspan="2"-20338
2006/071000colspan="2"-colspan="2"-colspan="2"-10
Total32800colspan="2"-colspan="2"-20348
FC Tokyo2006720000colspan="2"-colspan="2"-72
20072053220colspan="2"-colspan="2"-257
20082423284colspan="2"-colspan="2"-358
20092643194colspan="2"-colspan="2"-389
20102973361colspan="2"-113912
20111000colspan="2"-colspan="2"-colspan="2"-10
201240001010colspan="2"-60
20132153130colspan="2"-colspan="2"-276
20141932261colspan="2"-colspan="2"-276
2015200020colspan="2"-colspan="2"-40
2016155212020colspan="2"-216
Total1683319123910301123056
Vegalta Sendai2017000000colspan="2"-colspan="2"-00
Total000000colspan="2"-colspan="2"-00
Career total2004124163910303126968

Career statistics

International

[5]

Japan national team
YearAppsGoals
201043
Total43

National team goals

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

Under-20

Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 19 October 2003 2–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
2. 23 October 2003 2–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
3. 23 October 2003 3–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
4. 23 October 2003 5–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
5. 23 October 2003 6–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
6. 23 October 2003 7–0 7–0 AFC Youth Championship 2004 qualification
7. 5 December 2003 1–0 1–0 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship
8. 12 December 2003 1–4 1–5 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship
9. 25 September 2004 2–0 3–0 2004 AFC Youth Championship
10. 6 October 2004 2–2 2–2 2004 AFC Youth Championship
11. 10 June 2005 1–2 1–2 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship

Under-23

Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 8 February 2004 1–0 1–1 Friendly Match (2004 Kirin Challenge Cup)
2. 30 July 2004 National Stadium, Tokyo 2–0 4–0 Friendly Match (2004 Kirin Challenge Cup)
3. 3 December 2006 1–0 1–0 2006 Asian Games

Senior team

Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 6 January 2010 1–2 3–2 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2. 6 January 2010 2–2 3–2 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3. 6 January 2010 3–2 3–2 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Awards and honours

Club

FC Tokyo

1

2009

1

2010

1

2011

1

2011

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: ADO Den Haag 1–2 SC Heracles Almelo . https://web.archive.org/web/20110525132021/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=187812&cc=5901 . dead . 25 May 2011 . ESPNsoccernet . 20 August 2005 . 20 July 2006.
  2. News: Sota Hirayama verlaat Heracles Almelo . HeraclesAlmelo.nl . 4 September 2006 . 4 September 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927224008/http://www.heracles.nl/b9032c59-1854-4285-a3a2-b1c0446f321f.aspx?newsId=1945 . 27 September 2007.
  3. News: Hirayama nog niet van Heracles af . NOS.nl . 12 September 2006 . 12 September 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930210106/http://www.nos.nl/nos/artikelen/2006/09/art000001C6D0EF6C0D834D.html . 30 September 2007.
  4. http://www.jfa.or.jp/eng/topics/2010/8.html Japan rally past Yemen, qualify for 2011 Asian Cup
  5. http://www.jfootball-db.com/en/players/hirayama_sota.html Japan National Football Team Database
  6. 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, (p. 97 out of 289)
  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, (p. 35 out of 289)