Hotaru Yamaguchi

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

Biography
Yamaguchi was born in Nabari on October 6, 1990. He joined J2 League club Cerezo Osaka from their youth team in 2009. Cerezo was promoted to J1 League from 2010. He played many matches as defensive midfielder from 2011. In 2013, he played all 34 matches and was selected Best Eleven award. However Cerezo was relegated to J2 end of the 2014 season. In January 2016, he moved to German Bundesliga club Hannover. However he could not play many matches and Hannover was relegated to 2. Bundesliga end of the 2015/16 season. In summer 2016, he returned to Cerezo and Cerezo was promoted to J1 end of the 2016 season. In 2017, Cerezo won the champions in the J.League Cup and Emperor's Cup. He was also selected for the Best Eleven award. In 2019, he moved to Vissel Kobe. Vissel won the champions in the 2019 Emperor's Cup which is first major title in the club history.

In July 2012, Yamaguchi was selected for the Japan U-23 national team for 2012 Summer Olympics. He played all 6 matches as defensive midfielder and Japan got fourth place. In July 2013, he was selected for the Japan national team for 2013 East Asian Cup. At this tournament, he debuted against China on July 21. In 2014, he was selected for Japan in the 2014 World Cup and played all 3 matches. In 2018, he played at the 2018 World Cup and Japan qualified to the knockout stage.

Career statistics
Club
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. 145 out of 289)

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsCerezo Osaka2009J2 League3000–––302010J1 League200020––402011171400020–23120123024260––40420133460081––4272014191100080–2812015J2 League35100––20371201619110––202212017J1 League3225120––3932018330101040–390Total226141631911404027918Hannover 962015–16Bundesliga6000–––60Vissel Kobe2019J1 League3435221––4162020346–1071–4272021500010––60Total739524171008913Career total305212152322114037431

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsJapan201380201470201591201661201780201870201931Total483

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

+ List of international goals scored by Hotaru YamaguchiNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1  5 August 2015  Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China   1–1 1–1  2015 EAFF East Asian Cup2  6 October 2016  Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan   2–1 2–1  2018 FIFA World Cup qualification3  19 November 2019  Panasonic Stadium Suita, Suita, Japan   1–4 1–4  2019 Kirin Challenge Cup

Honours
Cerezo Osaka
Emperor's Cup: 2017
J.League Cup: 2017
Japanese Super Cup: 2018

Vissel Kobe
 J1 League: 2023
Emperor's Cup: 2019
Japanese Super Cup: 2020

Japan
EAFF East Asian Cup: 2013

Japan U-23
Asian Games: 2010

Individual
EAFF East Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 2013
J.League Best XI: 2013, 2017, 2023

References

Other websites

Category:1990 births
Category:Living people
Category:Footballers from Mie Prefecture
Category:Japan international footballers
Category:J1 League players
Category:J2 League players
Category:Cerezo Osaka players
Category:Vissel Kobe players
Category:2014 FIFA World Cup players
Category:2018 FIFA World Cup players
Category:Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics