Ryotaro Araki
Youth career. Beginning his career at his hometown club Roasso Kumamoto in their junior youth section, he went on to attend Higashi Fukuoka High School. In 2018, he represented Japan U16 in the AFC U16 Championship. In Japan's first game in the tournament, he won the man of the match award after scoring two goals in a 5-2 win over Thailand. Japan went on to win the tournament, with Araki appearing in every game except for the semi-final. In his second year at Higashi Fukuoka HS, he was handed the number 10 shirt and was  made captain of the team. Over two seasons, Araki made 30 appearances for the school scoring 10 goals across the Prince Takamado Cup, the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament, and the Inter Highschool Championship. Club career. In October 2019, it was announced that Araki would join Kashima Antlers for the 2020 season, after graduating from Higashi Fukuoka High School. He made his debut for Kashima Antlers on 23 February 2020, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 league defeat to Sanfrecce Hiroshima. He scored his first professional goal later on that season, scoring a 94th minute equaliser  in a 2-2 draw against Vissel Kobe. He made 29 appearances in his debut season aged just 18 years old, and scored 2 goals during the 2020 season, with both of the two goals being scored at the 2020 J1 League. He improved his already impressive form in his second season, with almost 3000 minutes in 46 appearances across all competitions. In the 2021 J1 League, he scored 10 league goals and made 6 assists, totalizing 16 goal contributions; the fifth most goal contributions in the league. He also was the first under-20 player to score a double dibit  number of goals since Shoji Jo, in 1994. His performances throughout the season rewarded him the J.League Rookie of the Year award. Honors. Individual