Ao Tanaka

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Ao Tanaka
Personal information
Full name Ao Tanaka
Date of birth (1998-09-10) 10 September 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Japan
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Fortuna Düsseldorf
Number 4
Youth career
2007–2016 Kawasaki Frontale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2022 Kawasaki Frontale 79 (7)
2021–2022Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 29 (1)
2022− Fortuna Düsseldorf 8 (0)
National team
2019–2021 Japan U23 18 (2)
2019– Japan 14 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 September 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 September 2022 (UTC)

Ao Tanaka (田中碧, Tanaka Ao, born 10 September 1998) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Fortuna Düsseldorf, and the Japan national team.

Club Career

Raised for a decade in the Kawasaki Frontale youth ranks of his hometown, Tanaka made his J1 League debut in September 2018 against Consadole Sapporo, scoring his first professional goal just six minutes after he was subbed on.[2] As injuries struck the midfield options of Kawasaki Frontale during the 2019 season, he earned more starts with his club, participating in 24 J1 League matches throughout the season, accumulating 31 matches in total during the year, across 5 different competitions. As his performances continuously caught the eyes of many, and his manager's approval, he was then awarded the 2019 J.League Rookie of the Year Award , in his first full professional season. With this feat, he is the only Kawasaki Frontale player ever to win this award.[3]

Throughout the 2020 season, Tanaka established for a good reputation among the Kawasaki Frontale players, playing a total of more than 2500 minutes across all competitions, being a starter in most of the matches he played. His performances with the Kawasaki Frontale team also helped him earn caps with the Japan under-23 team, including a 2-goal performance that helped the Japan under-23s earn a 3−2 win over the Brazil under-23 team in a friendly match at 14 October 2019.[4]

On 26 June 2021, after two and a half professional seasons with Kawasaki Frontale, he joined German 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf on a year-long loan with an option to buy.[5]

On 28 April 2022,Fortuna Düsseldorf, satisfied with his club and national team performances, exercised the buy-out option in his club contract to acquire him, paying his release clause to get him officially signed for the club on 28 April 2022. He signed a 3-year long contract with the expiration date being 30 June 2025, encouraged by a sequence of game time with their first-team in the 2021–22 2. Bundesliga.[6]

International Career

Tanaka made his debut for the Japan national football team on 14 December 2019, in a 5-0 win against Hong Kong in the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship. [7] In the summer of 2021, he was named in the 22-man squad for the 2020 Olympic Games alongside 2 Kawasaki Frontale ex-teammates, Kaoru Mitoma, and Reo Hatate. He started every match for Japan during the tournament.

He played his first match in the AFC qualification tournament for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on 12 October 2021, where he scored his first international goal in a 2-1 home win against Australia.[8][9] On 1 November 2022, Tanaka was included in Japan's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. [10]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 15 May 2022[11][12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Continental[c] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kawasaki Frontale 2017 J1 League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2018 J1 League 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
2019 J1 League 24 1 0 0 1 0 4 1 29 2
2020 J1 League 31 5 2 1 5 0 38 6
2021 J1 League 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 1
Total 79 8 2 1 6 0 4 1 91 10
Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 2021–22 2. Bundesliga 29 1 1 0 30 1
Career total 108 9 3 1 6 0 4 1 121 11
  1. ^ Includes Emperor's Cup and DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ Includes J. League Cup
  3. ^ Includes AFC Champions League

International

As of match played 14 June 2022[1]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 2019 2 0
2021 3 1
2022 8 1
Total 13 2

International goals

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 12 October 2021 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan  Australia 1–0 2–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 2 June 2022 Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan  Paraguay 4–1 4–1 2022 Kirin Challenge Cup

Honours

Kawasaki Frontale

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b "Japan National Team|JFA|Japan Football Association".
  2. ^ J1デビュー弾の田中碧、どん欲な姿勢が実を結んだ瞬間「今までの人生で一番楽しかった時間」 (in Japanese). goal.com. 16 September 2018.
  3. ^ "2019 J.LEAGUE Awards" (in Japanese). J.LEAGUE. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  4. ^ "U-22 Japan National Team comes from behind to win over Brazil". JFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Fortuna verpflichtet Tanaka". kicker (in German). 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Ao Tanaka signs a 3-year long contract with F95" (in German). Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Ao Tanaka JFA Profile". JFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. ^ "FIFA Match Center - Saudi Arabia vs Japan". FIFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  9. ^ "FIFA Match Center - Japan vs Australia". FIFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Japan World Cup 2022 squad: Team announced for tournament in Qatar". FourFourTwo. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  11. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 13 out of 289)
  12. ^ {{Soccerway}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.

External links