Gōtoku Sakai
 Sakai with Stuttgart in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gōtoku Sakai | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Full back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | VfB Stuttgart | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2008 | Albirex Niigata | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009– | Albirex Niigata | 74 | (1) |
| 2012– | → VfB Stuttgart (loan) | 22 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2009–2010 | Japan U-20 | 7 | (2) |
| 2011– | Japan U-22 | 10 | (0) |
| 2011– | Japan | 2 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 November 2012 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 September 2012 | |||
Gōtoku Sakai (酒井 高徳, Sakai Gōtoku, born 14 March 1991) is a Japanese-German football player currently playing for VfB Stuttgart in the German Bundesliga and Japanese national team, mainly as a full back.
Club career
Sakai was born in New York City to a Japanese father and a German mother. The family moved to Japan when he was 2-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.
On 1 January 2012 Gōtoku Sakai was loaned out to VfB Stuttgart until June 2013. VfB Stuttgart has the contract option to sign Sakai permanently.[1][2]
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 5 assists in his first Bundesliga season. [3]
International career
Sakai played for Japan U-20 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.[4]
On 21 September 2011 Gōtoku 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.[5] In the following group match against Bahrain he came off the bench.[6] He participated with the Japan under-23 team in the 2012 Toulon Tournament.[7] On 2 July 2012 Sakai was called up for the 2012 Summer Olympics Football tournament in London.[8]
He made his debut for the Japan national senior team on 6 September 2012 in the Kirin Cup against the United Arab Emirates.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 3 November 2012[update]
| Club | Season | League | Cup1 | League Cup2 | Continental3 | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Albirex Niigata | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2010 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | 30 | 1 | ||
| Total | 74 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | - | 89 | 1 | ||
| VfB Stuttgart | 2011–12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Total | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 3 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 96 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 114 | 1 | |
National Team Career
Appearances in major competitions
| Team | Competition | Category | Appearances | Goals | Team Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Sub | |||||
 Japan |
2010 AFC U-19 Championship qualification | U-18 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Qualified |
| Japan |
2010 AFC U-19 Championship | U-19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Quarter-finals |
| Japan |
2012 Summer Olympics Asian Qualifiers | OL | 1 | 1 | 0 | Qualified |
| Japan |
2012 Summer Olympics | OL | 2 | 2 | 0 | Fourth place |
References
- ^ "A new man for VfB". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- ^ "Go for 'Go'!". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ "Gotoku Sakai - Spieler bei VfB Stuttgart". Fussballdaten.
- ^ "Makino follows Sakai out of squad". The Japan Times. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- ^ "MATCH SUMMARY: Japan - Malaysia". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ "MATCH SUMMARY: Bahrain - Japan". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ "Japan U-23 squad for Toulon International named". Japan Football Association. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ "Going for gold". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
External links
 | ||
- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- 1991 births
- Living people
- Albirex Niigata players
- VfB Stuttgart players
- J. League Division 1 players
- Fußball-Bundesliga players
- Japanese footballers
- Japanese expatriate footballers
- Japanese expatriates in Germany
- Japanese people of German descent
- Olympic footballers of Japan
- Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics