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Gotoku Sakai

Gōtoku Sakai
Gotoku sakai.jpg
Sakai with Stuttgart in 2012
Personal information
Full name Gōtoku Sakai
Date of birth (1991-03-14) 14 March 1991 (age 26)
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

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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