Gōtoku Sakai
Sakai with Stuttgart in 2012
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gōtoku Sakai | ||
| Date of birth | 14 March 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | New York City, United States | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Full-back | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Hamburger SV | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2008 | Albirex Niigata | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2011 | Albirex Niigata | 74 | (1) |
| 2011–2015 | VfB Stuttgart | 87 | (1) |
| 2015– | Hamburger SV | 46 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009–2010 | Japan U20 | 7 | (2) |
| 2011–2012 | Japan U23 | 13 | (0) |
| 2012– | Japan | 27 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:29, 25 March 2017 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 July 2016 |
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Gōtoku Sakai (酒井 高徳 Sakai Gōtoku?, born 14 March 1991) is a Japanese footballer. He currently plays for and captains Hamburger SV in the German Bundesliga and is a player for the Japanese national team, mainly as a right back.
Sakai was born in New York to a Japanese father and a German mother. The family moved to Japan when he was two 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.
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