Hotaru Yamaguchi
Introduction  is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Vissel Kobe. He is also a member of the Japan national team.
Club career ===Early career===Yamaguchi began playing football in the third grade, playing mostly as an attacking midfielder. Upon entering junior high, he participated in trials with the Cerezo Osaka, Gamba Osaka and Kyoto Purple Sanga youth academies and ultimately joined the Cerezo Under-15 team, from whom he received an invitation on the spot. He enjoyed steady progress at the club, being selected to be part of the first entering class of the Japan Football Association Elite Program at the end of his first year. In 2006 Yamaguchi was promoted to the Cerezo Under-18 team, which later won the JFA Prince League U-18 in the 2008 season, in which he served as captain and was named league MVP.===Cerezo Osaka===Along with academy teammate Yusuke Maruhashi, Yamaguchi was promoted to the senior team in 2009, spending three months of the season training with the Palmeiras Under-21 academy. He was named to the Japan Under-21 team in his second season and played in all of the matches in a gold medal campaign at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.Yamaguchi began to receive substantial playing time with Cerezo in 2011, scoring his first league goal on Matchday 24 against Urawa Reds. The addition of Fábio Simplício resulted in Yamaguchi being increasingly deployed as an attacking midfielder toward the latter part of the season, which he finished with 30 appearances. He followed up by winning a regular position in the Cerezo side in 2012, combining with Takahiro Ogihara in central midfield for both club and country, being named to the Under-23 team.===Hannover 96===On 21 December 2015, Hannover 96 announced that they signed Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi played for Hannover 96 in 2016, however returned to Cerezo Osaka mid-season.
International career Yamaguchi represent the U-23 national side under Takashi Sekizuka in Japan's successful qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was included in the final squad at the 2012 Summer Olympics, contributing to a fourth-place finish at the tournament. In July 2013, Yamaguchi received his first call up to the senior Japan side by Alberto Zaccheroni for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, where he played in all three matches and was named tournament MVP.In May 2018, he was named in Japan's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Career statistics ===Club===+ 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'''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
External links **** Profile at Cerezo Osaka*