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Hotaru Yamaguchi

{{short description|Japanese footballer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Hotaru Yamaguchi
山口 蛍

| image = Hotaru Yamaguchi.jpg

| caption = Yamaguchi lining up for Japan at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

| full_name = Hotaru Yamaguchi

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1990|10|6|df=y}}

| birth_place = Nabari, Mie, Japan

| height = 1.74 m{{cite web|title=National Team Squad|url=http://www.jfa.or.jp/eng/national_team/squad/|work=jfa.or.jp|publisher=Japan Football Association|access-date=15 January 2014}}

| currentclub = V-Varen Nagasaki

| clubnumber = 5

| position = Defensive midfielder

| youthyears1 = 2000–2002 | youthclubs1 = Minowa West SC

| youthyears2 = 2003–2008 | youthclubs2 = Cerezo Osaka

| years1 = 2009–2015 | clubs1 = Cerezo Osaka | caps1 = 140 | goals1 = 11

| years2 = 2016 | clubs2 = Hannover 96 | caps2 = 6 | goals2 = 0

| years3 = 2016–2018 | clubs3 = Cerezo Osaka | caps3 = 85 | goals3 = 3

| years4 = 2019–2024 | clubs4 = Vissel Kobe | caps4 = 192 | goals4 = 23

| years5 = 2025– | clubs5 = V-Varen Nagasaki | caps5 = 2 | goals5 = 0

| nationalyears1 = 2010–2012 | nationalteam1 = Japan U23 | nationalcaps1 = 29 | nationalgoals1 = 1

| nationalyears2 = 2013–2019 | nationalteam2 = Japan | nationalcaps2 = 48 | nationalgoals2 = 3

| club-update = 23 February 2025, 14:20 (UTC)

| ntupdate = 19 November 2019

|medaltemplates=

{{Medal|Country|{{Fb|JPN}}}}

{{Medal|Competition|Asian Games}}

{{Medal|G|2010 Guangzhou|Team}}

}}

{{nihongo|Hotaru Yamaguchi|山口 蛍|Yamaguchi Hotaru|born 6 October 1990}} is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and currently plays for {{Japanese football updater|VVarenNa}} club, V-Varen Nagasaki. He is also a member of the Japan national team until 2019.{{cite web|publisher=Guardian.co.uk|title=Stats Centre: Hotaru Yamaguchi Facts|url=http://guardian.touch-line.com/StatsCentre.asp?Lang=0&CTID=63&CPID=152&pStr=Player&PLID=213980&TEID=3546|access-date=13 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001042015/http://guardian.touch-line.com/StatsCentre.asp?Lang=0&CTID=63&CPID=152&pStr=Player&PLID=213980&TEID=3546|archive-date=1 October 2012}}

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. 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. He followed up by winning a regular position on the Cerezo side in 2012, combining with Takahiro Ogihara in central midfield for both club and country, and being named to the Under-23 team.

=Hannover 96=

On 21 December 2015, Hannover 96 announced that they signed Yamaguchi.{{cite web|url=https://www.hannover96.de/aktuelles-termine/news/details/17666-96-verpflichtet-japanischen-nationalspieler-hotaru-yamaguchi.html|title=96 verpflichtet japanischen Nationalspieler Yamaguchi|access-date=22 December 2015}} Yamaguchi played for Hannover 96 in 2016, however returned to Cerezo Osaka mid-season.

=Vissel Kobe=

On 19 December 2018, Yamaguchi sympathized with the goal of seriously aiming for the J1 League and AFC Champions League and officially completed a transfer to Vissel Kobe[https://www.vissel-kobe.co.jp/news/article/15614.html セレッソ大阪よりMF山口蛍選手 完全移籍加入のお知らせ] ヴィッセル神戸 2018年12月19日 (later, he achieved the league championship as his goal). According to the media, it was a three-year contract with an annual salary of over ¥100,000,000, totaling over ¥400,000,000.[https://web.archive.org/web/20181212013536/http://www.chunichi.co.jp/chuspo/article/soccer/news/CK2018121202000164.html C大阪・山口蛍、神戸移籍決定的 3年総額4億円] 中日スポーツ 2018年12月12日

=V-Varen Nagasaki=

On 23 December 2024, Yamaguchi announcement officially transfer to J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki from 2025.[https://www.v-varen.com/news/213021.html 山口 蛍選手 完全移籍加入のお知らせ] V・ファーレン長崎 2024年12月23日

International career

Yamaguchi represented the U-23 national side under Takashi Sekizuka in Japan's successful qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was included in the final squad at the 2012 Summer Olympics, contributing to a fourth-place finish at the tournament.

In July 2013, Yamaguchi received his first call up 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.

In May 2018, he was named in Japan's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.{{cite web|title= World Cup 2018: All the confirmed squads for this summer's finals in Russia|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/440833652018}}

Career statistics

=Club=

{{updated|the match played 23 February 2025}}.Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, [https://www.amazon.co.jp/2017-J1-J3%E9%81%B8%E6%89%8B%E5%90%8D%E9%91%91-NSK-MOOK/dp/4905411424/ref=pd_sim_14_1/356-9491148-0114816?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BA8BN4Y0F97GNWKQM78H "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)"], 8 February 2017, Japan, {{ISBN|978-4905411420}} (p. 145 out of 289)

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|National Cup

!colspan="2"|League Cup

!colspan="2"|Continental

!colspan="2"|Other{{efn|Appearances in J2 Play-offs}}

!colspan="2"|Total

DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
rowspan="11"|Cerezo Osaka

|2009

|J.League Div 2

|3

000colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–30
2010

|rowspan="5"|J.League Div 1

|2

00020colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–40
2011

|17

1400020colspan="2"|–231
2012

|30

24260colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–404
2013

|34

60081colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–427
2014

|19

1100080colspan="2"|–281
2015

|rowspan="2"|J2 League

|35

100colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–20371
2016

|19

110colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–20221
2017

|rowspan="2"|J1 League

|32

25120colspan="2"|–colspan="2"|–393
2018

|33

0101040colspan="2"|–390
colspan="2"|Total

!226

141631911404027918
rowspan="2"|Hannover 96

|2015–16

|Bundesliga

|6

000colspan="6"|–60
colspan="2"|Total

!6

000colspan="6"|–60
rowspan="7"|Vissel Kobe

|2019

|rowspan="6"|J1 League

|34

35221colspan="4"|–416
2020

|34

6colspan="2"|–1071colspan="2"|–427
2021

|32

53081colspan="4"|–436
2022

|33

2302060colspan="2"|–442
2023

|32

43020colspan="4"|–374
2024

|27

33000colspan="2"|–303
colspan="2"|Total

!192

231721521310023728
rowspan="2"|V-Varen Nagasaki

|2025

|J2 League

|2

00000colspan="4"|–20
colspan="2"|Total

!2

00000colspan="4"|–20
colspan="3"|Career total

!426

373353432714052446

{{notelist}}

=International=

{{updated|19 November 2019|[http://www.jfootball-db.com/players_ya/hotaru_yamaguchi.html Japan National Football Team Database]{{in lang|ja}}}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year

National teamYearAppsGoals
rowspan="7"|Japan

|2013

80
201470
201591
201661
201780
201870
201931
colspan="2"|Total483

:Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yamaguchi goal.

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ List of international goals scored by Hotaru Yamaguchi{{cite web|url=http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/53086/Hotaru_Yamaguchi.html|title=Yamaguchi, Hotaru|publisher=National Football Teams|access-date=30 January 2017}}

scope="col"|No.

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Opponent

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Competition

align="center"|15 August 2015Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China{{fb|KOR}}align="center"|1–1align="center"|1–12015 EAFF East Asian Cup
align="center"|26 October 2016Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan{{fb|IRQ}}align="center"|2–1align="center"|2–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
align="center"|319 November 2019Panasonic Stadium Suita, Suita, Japan{{fb|VEN}}align="center"|1–4align="center"|1–42019 Kirin Challenge Cup

Honours

Cerezo Osaka

Vissel Kobe

  • J1 League: 2023,{{cite web |url= https://www.jleague.jp/news/article/26528/|title= 神戸が悲願の初優勝！井出、武藤のゴールで名古屋に競り勝つ【速報：明治安田J1第33節】|access-date= November 25, 2023|work= J.League}} 2024{{cite web |url= https://www.soccer-king.jp/news/japan/jl/20241208/1962452.html|title= 神戸が連覇&2冠達成! 磐田は1年でJ2降格決定...得点王は24発アンデルソン・ロペス/J1最終節|access-date= 9 December 2024|website= Soccer King|language=ja}}
  • Emperor's Cup: 2019,{{cite web|url=https://en.as.com/en/2020/01/01/football/1577885627_719505.html|title=Andrés Iniesta skippers Vissel Kobe to first trophy in David Villa's final match|website=AS|date=1 January 2020|access-date=2 January 2020|archive-date=2 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102160431/https://en.as.com/en/2020/01/01/football/1577885627_719505.html|url-status=dead}} 2024{{cite web |url= https://www.jleague.jp/match/emperor/2024/112301/live|title= G大阪vs神戸の試合結果・データ(天皇杯:2024年11月23日)|access-date= 23 November 2024|website= J.League|language=ja}}
  • Japanese Super Cup: 2020{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/japanese-j1-league/story/4049174/andres-iniesta-lifts-japan-super-cup-after-nine-straight-pen-misses|title=Andres Iniesta lifts Japan Super Cup after nine straight pen misses|website=ESPN|date=8 February 2020|access-date=8 February 2020}}

Japan

Japan U-23

Individual

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{FIFA player|356466}}
  • {{NFT}}
  • {{J.League player}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143217/https://www.cerezo.jp/teams/players/hotaru_yamaguchi/ Profile at Cerezo Osaka]
  • [https://www.v-varen.com/club/213068.html Profile at V-Varen Nagasaki]
  • {{Soccerway}}

{{V-Varen Nagasaki squad}}

{{Navboxes

|title= Japan squads

|bg= mediumblue

|fg= white

|bordercolor= red

|list1=

{{Japan men's football squad 2012 Summer Olympics}}

{{Japan squad 2014 FIFA World Cup}}

{{Japan squad 2018 FIFA World Cup}}

}}

{{Navboxes

| title = Awards

| bg = gold

| fg = navy

| list =

{{2013 J.League Team of the Year}}

{{2017 J.League Team of the Year}}

{{2023 J.League Team of the Year}}

}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamaguchi, Hotaru}}

Category:Living people

Category:1990 births

Category:Association football people from Mie Prefecture

Category:Men's association football midfielders

Category:Japanese men's footballers

Category:Japan men's international footballers

Category:J1 League players

Category:J2 League players

Category:Bundesliga players

Category:Cerezo Osaka players

Category:Hannover 96 players

Category:Vissel Kobe players

Category:V-Varen Nagasaki players

Category:Olympic footballers for Japan

Category:Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games

Category:Asian Games medalists in football

Category:Asian Games gold medalists for Japan

Category:Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Category:2014 FIFA World Cup players

Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany

Category:Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany

Category:Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games

Category:2018 FIFA World Cup players