My Cerezo Your Cerezo

Cerezo Osaka confirmed the signing of Japanese midfielder Hotaru Yamaguchi from Hannover 96 on June 19.

Facial injury prevented the 25-year-old Midfielder from playing for Hannover but he has already joined his new (or should I say 'old?') team-mates and played 90 minutes in a practice match on Monday. So we don't need to worry his injury. Hotaru will be available for the match against Kumamoto on July 3.

He gave us a comment on the official website:
"The six months was rather short but I'd been away from Cerezo and I felt so strongly that Cerezo was my home. That's the biggest reason why I'm back here again."

"So many people have supported and helped me. I'd like to stay here as long as I can. I want to play like starting again from the beginning so that everybody can justify this move. "

Kenyu Sugimoto inspired the team and Cerezo Osaka clinched a 3-2 victory over Tokushima Vortis.

The 23-year-old winger scored his second goal of the season in the 25th minute. Cerezo controlled the game as Bruno Meneghel converted a debatably awarded penalty kick after the break.

Souza beautifully slotted a free kick into the net in the 73rd minute though Tokushima gave some scares to Cerezo's defense.

Bruno Meneghel picked up a yellow card in 76 minutes, and he will miss the next match against Tokyo Verdy due to yellow card accumulation.

According to Sports Hochi, Cerezo manager Kiyoshi Okuma admitted that the future of Hotaru Yamaguchi will be decided in this week.
 
The 25-year-old midfielder transferred from Cerezo Osaka to Hannover in December 2015 and appeared in 6 games but couldn't have played for the team because of injury since this March.

"Injury is not the reason why I want to be back here," The 25-year-old midfielder spoke to Sports Hochi regarding his future after the training session at Maisima ground, Osaka.

"I wasn't aware of my feelings until I left Osaka. "

Ex-Cerezo striker Diego Forlan announced his departure from Peñarol, but denied his retirement.

Ex-Cerezo striker Diego Forlan announced that he's leaving Peñarol, the Uruguayan club on Tuesday. The 37-year-old joined the club after he spent his frustrating two years for Cerezo, and he contributed Peñarol to win the Uruguayan first-division league title.

He said at a press conference that he regretted not doing more for the team, and apologized to the fans for not scoring more goals.

Peñarol's president described his leaving as "bittersweet" moment for the club. His father, Pablo Forlan also played for the same club 40 years ago.

Diego Forlan's future is not yet clear but he said he wants to continue playing.

According to IBTimes, Indian Super League side Atletico de Kolkata are in advanced talks with him.

He has a weekly column in The National, the news media based on Abu Dhabi, and on the latest article, he wrote about his Euro predictions. You can check how he rated European national teams here.

So many talented Japanese players have taken on a challenge to the Spanish League but all failed so far. Can Hiroshi Kiyotake show the difference and prove himself through the fierce competition? 

Kiyotake signed to join in Sevilla FC, but La Liga has not been very friendly to Japanese players. In the past, so many Japanese international players challenged to the league including ex-Cerezo Striker Yoshito Okubo, Shunsuke Nakamura, and Shoji Jo but all failed to impress Spanish football fans. So can Kiyotake shine in Spain?

According to the Goal.com (Japanese Edition), the key to the success is to be physically strong, win the position that he's looking for, and get along with the new boss.

I hope Kiyo will success in La Liga but the most problem is the new boss, I think. Sevilla is now in talks with the former Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli, but they have not signed and sealed yet. The success will heavily depend on which player a new manager wants to play so it remains to be seen whether Kiyo really plays on the pitch or not. After all, he needs to impress his ability on the manager when he's given the chance to play, no matter who the new boss is.


Some comments on his success:

    To be honest, I'm afraid that it's very hard to success. His low adaptability has already been discovered in Germany.

    I think Spanish League is more suitable for Japanese players. Kiyotake is a top-class as far as his passing and corner kick are concerned. So they want him.

    I was amazed how high the level is during watching Spain v Czech on the last night. I'm worrying about whether Kiyotake can play between these class players. It will be hard but I will support him as much as I can.

Kim Jin-hyeon shut out FC Gifu to earn Cerezo Osaka all three points on Sunday at Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium.
Without Kakitani the club captain and the source of inspiration for the squad this match, Cerezo suffered when attacking. Except for Bruno Meneghel's lovely goal at 5 minutes, Cerezo couldn't threaten the opponent so much.

Though both teams were not so very impressive this game, the performance of the match captain Kim Jing-hyeon was outstanding and the 28-year-old Korean goalkeeper kept a clean sheet.

Cerezo Osaka narrowly won this game by 1-0 and recorded a clean sheet after 6 games.

Cerezo Osaka confirmed that the club is interested in ex-Cerezo player Hotaru Yamaguchi on Saturday.

Minoru Tamada, Chairman, said "I've heard that Hotaru wants to come back. If he really wants it, we'll do our best to it."

According to a Japanese media, the 25-year-old defensive midfielder has already told Hannover that he wishes to leave.

Hotaru transferred to Hannover in December 2015 and appeared in 6 games but couldn't have played for the team because of injury since this March. He wanted to stay at the German club before.

People talk about the transfer like this...

He should play in German league for at least one year. It may be harsh for him but these six months in Germany mean nothing for him if he comes back this early.

Don't turn back in Japan until you prove yourself there! I hate to see you Cerezo players being too friendly.

Oh no, they are too harsh for him!

According to a German media, the fee was 6.5 million euro.

The 26-year-old ex-Cerezo attacking midfielder has agreed to join the team on a four-year deal.

Kiyotake spent four years in the German football league with Nurnberg and Hannover. He wore the number 10 shirt for the latter team, but couldn't avoid the team's relegation from the Bundesliga.

Kiyotake's move had been in doubt because Sevilla's director of football and the manager could leave the team.

In the Spanish league, Takashi Inui, his former Cerezo Osaka teammate is currently playing for S.D. Eibar.

Injured Kakitani was checked in a hospital on Friday and the 26-year-old striker was diagnosed as ligament injury of the right foot. The diagnosis tells that it will take 4 weeks to be healed, but his comeback could be much longer.
Cerezo will be going to face against Sapporo, one of the J2 League title contenders on July 9th but we will play without our main strike force.

Kakitani was injured when Cerezo played against Nagasaki on June 8th.

Kakitani played for FC Basel from the 2014/15 season to the 2015/16 season but he couldn't establish himself at the team and came back to his old club.

In this season, he's been the club's main scoring source as he's netted five goals up to now.

Kakitani, the captain of the team injured in the first half and was carried by a stretcher. Ricardo Santos came in as a substitute and he put the ball into the goal by the header at 13 minutes. Cerezo controlled the game but Nagasaki's solid defense did not allow them to another goal until the additional time of the latter half.

Cerezo gradually shifted to be defensive in the second half, but just before the end of the game Ryo Nagai, ex-Cerezo striker superbly struck the ball through the goalkeeper and level the game at 1-1.

But just after that, Kimoto put the ball into the net from Ricardo's cross and this earned Cerezo three points.   
  
Kakitani injured his right ankle in the first half of the match. According to a person who involved with the team, he couldn't walk by himself. Further information will be available on June 9th. We don't know how long will he not be able to play but given that Kakitani plays the very important role in the squad, Cerezo Osaka absolutely need to gather again and fight without him for some time.

On the other hand, we have a good news. Yasuki Kimoto, the 22-year-old hot prospect, superbly put the ball into the net just before the match ends. Though he's been playing very well in the junior squad this is the first day that he's selected as a first team player.

“I wanted to defend at first but we conceded the goal so I was little anxious,” the youngster said answering the interview. “At the moment of the goal I just run into the space and Kiyo-san gave me the ball and all I did was just to send it to the goal. I was nervous at first but Yoichiro-san and many senpais encouraged me and I'm glad that I could finish it.”

Japan national team was beaten by Bosnia-Herzegovina on 1-2 on June 6th. 

Hiroshi Kiyotake, 26-year-old Ex-Cerezo winger, wonderfully opened the scoring at 28 minutes but Bosnia team quickly fired back. After the break Japan conceded again at 66 minutes.

Both Kagawa and Honda, the main attacking forces of japan sat on the bench because of injuries so Kiyotake played as an attacking leader of the team. He was totally outstanding at first but slowly fade out in the pitch.

After the game, Kiyotake said that we attacked well on the left flank and had a chance to score one more but couldn't make it. I'm really frustrated this result because we should win this kind of match, he said.

Kiyotake played for Cerezo Osaka and led the team to the 3rd position of J-League in 2010.

Kiyotake is rumored to join in Sevilla FC next season.


People said ...
I thought many times it would be much better if Kagawa were near Kiyotake in this match.

Kiyotake always played like this as he played for Hanover. It seems good but the team loses because of mistakes at critical moments.

But it's Kiyotake to build up most on this cup games. Everybody know he's good but I think he's been mentally grown up these days. He's no longer just a technically good player now. He will shine more when plays with Kagawa and Honda.

Kiyo is getting better and more compelling.

Cerezo Osaka awkwardly lost at Yanmar Stadium on the final day of the project which plans to attract 30,000 spectators to the stadium. 




After Kakitani got the superb goal at 10 minutes, they slowed down and couldn't make the game. When Taka's sloppy defense was lead to his 2nd yellow card, actually the game was over. After that, Sanuki got two goals quickly. Cerezo fought back to score one but the dramatic goal for Sanuki on the additional time let Cerezo down to the ground.

After the game, Mr. Okuma said that players did their best without giving up but the accident decided the game. The coach showed his regret that the team couldn't win in front of so many supporters.

Kakitani said that he was really frustrated because we should win the game no matter what happened on the pitch.

Bruno Meneghel said that the game was so close and it was unfortunate to lose at the last minute but sometimes this kind of things happen. We shouldn't do like this again at home, said the Brazillian striker.

And people said ...

- Great game! Thrilling and dramatic on the additional time, it was fun to watch. But Players of Sanuki looked like running more and Cerezo seemed playing like they are still in J-League. Actually, it's their second year in J2...

- Normally, teams improve every game but this team is steadily worsening. The coach doesn't see the problem. I'm annoyed at the coach saying like "it's not my responsibility but..." after every match.

- Cerezo doesn't know what to do now. It's absolutely not the "30,000 spectators project."

- They always can't run effectively, so the other side sets up the pace. The problem is that the coach cannot change that...

- The coach failed and Ogitani shouldn't captain in the team - Why is Tamada always a backup member?

- I thought it was unlikely to lose against Sanuki. I shouldn't go to the stadium. How many time have they suffered last minute goals since last year!!

- Kakitani and Taka are growing at sluggish pace...

- Udon was better than Takoyaki.

- Sanuki is strong too!