Gōtoku Sakai

Gōtoku Sakai (酒井 高徳, Sakai Gōtoku, born 14 March 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a full back for Vissel Kobe. Born in the United States but raised in Japan, where he represented internationally.

The native form of this personal name is Sakai Gotoku. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Gōtoku Sakai
Sakai lining up for Japan at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Gōtoku Sakai
Date of birth (1991-03-14) 14 March 1991
Place of birth New York City, United States
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Full back
Team information
Current team
 Vissel Kobe
Number 24
Youth career
2006–2008 Albirex Niigata
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2013 Albirex Niigata 74 (1)
2012–2013 → VfB Stuttgart (loan) 28 (0)
2013–2015 VfB Stuttgart 43 (1)
2015–2019 Hamburger SV 112 (1)
2019– Vissel Kobe 116 (3)
International career
2009–2010 Japan U20 7 (2)
2011–2012 Japan U23 13 (0)
2012–2018 Japan 42 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:22, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Sakai was born in New York to a German mother and a Japanese father. The family moved to Japan when he was two years old. He grew up in Sanjō, Niigata prefecture. Sakai started playing football at Sanjō junior soccer club, together with his brother Noriyoshi. At age 15, he joined Albirex Niigata youth academy and entered Kaishi Gakuen High School. His team played at the Prince Takamado Cup, All Japan Club Youth Soccer tournament and J. League Youth tournament.

Years later in his final year at school, he was chosen as one of the designated players for development by J. League Division 1 and JFA. With this status, he was able to register as a J. League club player while he was still eligible to play for his school. He made his Albirex first-team debut, at the age of 17, on 15 November 2008 in the Emperor's Cup match against FC Tokyo. He officially signed with Albirex Niigata in the following season. After becoming professional, he was assigned the number 24 shirt. He made his professional football debut in the opening J1 League match of the 2009 season also against FC Tokyo.

VfB Stuttgart

On 1 January 2012, Gōtoku Sakai was loaned out to VfB Stuttgart until June 2013. VfB Stuttgart secured the contract option to sign Sakai permanently.[2][3]

On 11 February 2012, Sakai made his Bundesliga debut for VfB Stuttgart in a 5–0 home victory against Hertha BSC. He made 14 starts and recorded five assists in his first Bundesliga season.[4] Sakai scored his first goal for Stuttgart on 22 November 2012 in a 5–1 away victory against FC Steaua București in the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage.[5]

On 10 January 2013, Sakai signed a contract with Stuttgart until June 2016 and moved permanently to VfB.[6][7]

Hamburger SV

In the 2015-16 season, Sakai joined Hamburger SV.[8]

Vissel Kobe

On 14 August 2019, Sakai moved back to Japan to join Vissel Kobe.[9]

International career

Sakai played for Japan U20 at the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship in China. In 2011, he was named in Japan's final 23-man squad to compete at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar but had to withdraw due to an injury.[10]

On 21 September 2011, Sakai was in the starting line-up of the Japan under-22 team in the first group match of his team in the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Qualifiers against Malaysia.[11] In the following group match against Bahrain he came off the bench.[12] He participated with the Japan under-23 team in the 2012 Toulon Tournament.[13] On 2 July 2012, Sakai was called up for the 2012 Summer Olympics Football tournament in London.[14]

He made his debut for the Japan senior national team on 6 September 2012 in the Kirin Cup against the United Arab Emirates.

Sakai underlined his outstanding potential in late 2012 when he was selected by influential football website IBWM in their list of the 100 most exciting players in world football for 2013.[15]

In May 2018 he was named in Japan's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[16] After Japan lost in the Round of 16 to Belgium, Sakai announced his retirement from international duty.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of 23 June 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental[lower-alpha 3] Other[lower-alpha 4] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Albirex Niigata 2008 J1 League 001000— —10
2009 1801040— —230
2010 3100040— —350
2011 2512030— —301
Total 74140110— —891
VfB Stuttgart (loan) 2011–12 Bundesliga 140——— —140
2012–13 27040—101 —411
VfB Stuttgart 2013–14 28020—20 —320
2014–15 18110—— —191
Total 87170—121 —1062
Hamburger SV 2015–16 Bundesliga 22010—— 0 0230
2016–17 33120—— 0 0351
2017–18 28010—— 0 0290
2018–19 2. Bundesliga 31 0 4 0 — — 1 0 35 0
Total 114180—— 1 01221
Vissel Kobe 2019 J1 League 12 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0
2020 32 1 0 0 1 0 7 0 1 0 41 1
2021 38 1 2 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 47 1
2022 17 0 2 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 23 1
Total 99 2 6 1 8 0 11 0 1 0 127 3
Career total 3745251190231 2 04437
  1. Includes Emperor's Cup and DFB-Pokal.
  2. Includes J. League Cup.
  3. Includes UEFA Europa League and AFC Champions League.
  4. Includes club friendlies and 2020 Japanese Super Cup.

International
As of 2 July 2018[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan 201220
201390
201470
201570
201670
201740
201860
Total420

Honours

VfB Stuttgart

Vissel Kobe

Notes

    References
    1. "National Team Squad". jfa.or.jp. Japan Football Association. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
    2. "A new man for VfB". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 23 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
    3. "Go for 'Go'!". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 2 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
    4. "Gotoku Sakai" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
    5. "Stuttgart stun Steaua to remain in the hunt". uefa.com. UEFA. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
    6. "Röcker and Sakai extend deals". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
    7. "酒井 高徳選手 VfBシュツットガルト（ドイツ・ブンデスリーガ）へ完全移籍のお知らせ" [Permanent move to VfB Stuttgart]. albirex.co.jp (in Japanese). Albirex Niigata. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
    8. "Sakai to join Hamburg from Stuttgart: report". japantimes.co.jp. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
    9. "DF酒井高徳選手がハンブルガーSV（ドイツ）より完全移籍加入のお知らせ" [Dfender Gotoku Sakai completed his transfer from Hamburg SV]. vissel-kobe.co.jp (in Japanese). Vissel Kobe. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
    10. "Makino follows Sakai out of squad". The Japan Times. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
    11. "MATCH SUMMARY: Japan – Malaysia". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 21 September 2011. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
    12. "MATCH SUMMARY: Bahrain – Japan". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
    13. "Japan U-23 squad for Toulon International named". Japan Football Association. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
    14. "Going for gold". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 2 July 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
    15. "The IBWM 100 for 2013". inbedwithmaradona.com. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
    16. "World Cup 2018: All the confirmed squads for this summer's finals in Russia".
    17. "Japan captain Makoto Hasebe announces international retirement". 3 July 2018.
    18. Japan National Football Team Database(in Japanese)
    19. "Andres Iniesta lifts Japan Super Cup after nine straight pen misses". ESPN. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
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