{"id":1095,"date":"2020-01-16T11:21:48","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T00:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/?p=1095"},"modified":"2026-09-23T14:29:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T04:59:54","slug":"minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/ro\/minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Minamino ready to take centre stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 id=\"eighteen-months-ago-despite-three-and-a-half-impressive-seasons-with-red-bull-salzburg-in-which-he-scored-31-goals-in-95-games-for-the-perennial-austrian-champions-takumi-minamino-wasn-t-included-in-the-extended-27-man-squad-for-the-fifa-world-cup-in-russia\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eighteen months ago, despite three and a half impressive\nseasons with Red Bull Salzburg in which he scored 31 goals in 95 games for the\nperennial Austrian champions, Takumi Minamino wasn\u2019t included in the extended\n27-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of this year, the 2013 J.League Rookie of the Year, who last month signed for Liverpool, could be the country\u2019s biggest star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Japanese footballers have had incredible success in Europe in the past, winning titles and banging in goals, but what the country hasn&#8217;t had is a player become a superstar in what people claim is the best league in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shinji Kagawa, who was at Cerezo Osaka when Minamino was in the Cerezo youth teams, looked like he would break through to achieve that when he moved to Manchester United in 2012. But his spell in Manchester was a frustrating one, often playing a bit-part role before moving back to Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shinji Okazaki won the Premier League with Leicester, and while he was integral to that side, he was never one of the league&#8217;s elite players. The same can be said of Maya Yoshida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arguably Japan&#8217;s best ever player, Hidetoshi Nakata, joined mid-table Bolton in 2005\/06, but his spell at the mid-table side was too brief and was with one of the least &#8220;sexy&#8221; teams in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Liverpool, one of the most revered institutions in world football, is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Minamino can work his way into becoming a first-team regular at Anfield, and with J\u00fcrgen Klopp one of his biggest admirers he has every chance to do just that, then the 25-year-old could yet become the country&#8217;s biggest and best footballing export.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-x\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RedBullSalzburg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RedBullSalzburg<\/a> star Takumi Minamino is our star to watch for <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jfa_samuraiblue?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jfa_samuraiblue<\/a>! <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/AFCU23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AFCU23<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/RoadToRio?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#RoadToRio<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/FutureStars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FutureStars<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/e47nJ90Vc5\">pic.twitter.com\/e47nJ90Vc5<\/a><\/p>&mdash; AFC (@theafcdotcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/theafcdotcom\/status\/685861171409334272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 9, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It might seem like a meteoric rise, but it\u2019s been anything but for the Osaka-born Minamino. Rather, it\u2019s been a slow burn over the last decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2010, aged just 15, he was the leading scorer at the AFC U16 Championships with five goals, and followed it up by playing a starring role with four goals at the 2014 AFC U19 Championships. His was already a star on the rise, but aside from those goals at youth level, it was one goal in 2013 that really put his name on the radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve become accustomed now to the annual parade of European\nclubs visiting Asia for what are largely irrelevant and meaningless friendlies\nagainst local clubs. The powerhouse European clubs will say the right things\nand act the right way (or maybe sometimes they won\u2019t), but there is a sense\nthat the players from these mega clubs simply cannot wait to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For players of the local clubs, however, these matches offer\na chance to test themselves against the world\u2019s best and, if they perform, put\nthemselves in the shop window. Play well against Real Madrid, for example, and scouts\nare going to take notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manchester United\u2019s trip to Japan to play Cerezo Osaka in\nJuly 2013 is scarcely a memorable one. Even the most ardent United fan would\nstruggle to remember it, but the match was memorable for one particular moment\nand one particular goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A then 18-year-old Minamino, who had only broken into the senior team at the J.League club a few months earlier, picked up the ball on the edge of the area and fired home a thunderbolt into the top corner to put Cerezo 2-1 up in a match that would end 2-2. The finish, and confidence, almost arrogance of his celebration, belied his years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The match might have been staged as a homecoming for United\u2019s Kagawa, but it was Minamino\u2019s goal that stole the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Goal! Takumi Minamino (Cerezo Osaka) vs Manchester United\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4WthbALUq_A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If he wasn\u2019t already on the radar of European clubs for his\nexploits at youth international level, then that goal most certainly would have\npiqued their attention. Eighteen months later, a move was sealed to Red Bull\nSalzburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a smart move. Sure, he could\u2019ve gone to a bigger club or league, especially at a time when every second Japanese player seemed to be moving to the Bundesliga. But it was a move to a league and club that would be a good introduction to European football for the 20-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By playing in Austria, with the greatest of respect to the Austrian league, it allowed him the chance to acclimatise to football in Europe off-Broadway. There was no pressure or expectation, as there had been with Japanese players in the past, such as with Takashi Usami, once rated as one of Japan\u2019s most exciting talents, who moved to Bayern Munich in 2011 but struggled to make an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those who have coached Minamino, his success is not a surprise, as Ranko Popovic, who coached him at Cerezo Osaka in 2014, explained to <em>The Asian Game<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen\nI coached Takumi he was 18 years old,\u201d he said. \u201cFirst of all (he) was a fantastic\nboy who was ready and open to learn and accept everything. He was like many\nyoung players, he was interested in everything that would make his performance\nbetter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\nwas always so confident, many players in Japan don\u2019t have that (confidence),\nespecially young players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s very different to be a young player in Europe than a young player in Japan. I think European players are more mature at the same age as Japanese players, but the character of Takumi was different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou\ncan see in him, he knows what he wants to do and what he wants from his life\nand career. He wants to have success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having\nachieved success in Austria, with five straight league titles, and after a\nnumber of impressive performances in this season\u2019s UEFA Champions League,\nincluding against Liverpool, a January move was always on the cards, and\nSalzburg weren\u2019t about to stand in his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe\nbig clubs have been watching him and, if I was them, I\u2019d have no hesitation to\nsign him. Takumi is ready to make the next step in January,\u201d Red Bull Salzburg\nsporting director Christoph Freund said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That next step was to one of the biggest clubs in world football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-x\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"qme\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udd34\ud83d\udd34\ud83d\udd34 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/takumina0116?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@takumina0116<\/a> \ud83d\udd34\ud83d\udd34\ud83d\udd34 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PDlrYPpNLQ\">pic.twitter.com\/PDlrYPpNLQ<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Liverpool FC (@LFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LFC\/status\/1207573159144230912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 19, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\nhas been a dream, my dream to become a Liverpool player. And I\u2019m so excited\nthat the moment has come true,\u201d Minamino told the Liverpool website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo\nplay in the Premier League was one of my targets. I think this is the top-class\nleague in the world; I was thinking if my career as a footballer progressed\nsmoothly, someday I would be able to play in the Premier League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut\nI never thought I would be able to play in this team and I\u2019m really happy about\nit. I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Popovic, the move to the six-time UEFA Champions League winners is the right move at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s a good move for him, this was the right moment,\u201d\nthe 52-year-old Serbian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLast year I was in Austria and I had the possibility to\nenjoy his games because I had the opportunity to see him every week, and I\nthink Takumi is now a really mature player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think he can do a little bit more because he has the space to grow and be better. Like everyone knows, Klopp is a coach that likes this type of player and this is a good opportunity and he will take this and he will perform good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Klopp\nindeed knows exactly what type of player he has signed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\ntold him that we really signed Takumi Minamino from Salzburg, the guy who\nplayed against us like crazy, who was self-confident like crazy. Just be that\nand everything else is fine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Based on Klopp\u2019s comments after his debut in the FA Cup against Everton last week, Minamino will fit in just fine at Liverpool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a id='kGVV8GTeQJNJLrLdm4pSfw' class='gie-single' href='https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1091985660' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'kGVV8GTeQJNJLrLdm4pSfw',sig:'Ga45Wuxn4EJAVLJjlWrrkK6TqqUviotyJ45leYX9r8o=',w:'594px',h:'421px',items:'1091985660',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSuper, outstanding. Exactly the player we wanted, exactly the player we wished for,\u201d Klopp said of his performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYour\nfirst game in a team you don\u2019t know, if it\u2019s a settled team it\u2019s already\ndifficult \u2013 this team we threw more or less on the pitch with two sessions\ntogether. And then showing this kind of game understanding, football skills are\nexceptional, attitude is outstanding, led the chasing pack so often in\ndifferent situations, which I loved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What Klopp may not love so much will be his frequent long-haul flights back to Japan, and other exotic locations in Asia, as he looks to steer the Samurai Blue to their seventh straight FIFA World Cup appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He may not have been in Japan\u2019s plans 18 months ago, but right now he is arguably their best and most important player. Since Hajime Moriyasu took over after the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Minamino has found the back of the net 11 times, including in last year&#8217;s AFC Asian Cup final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crucially, he\u2019s scored in every one of Japan\u2019s four World Cup qualifiers so far, with five goals in four games. With a host of attacking talent for Moriyasu to choose from, Minamino looms as the central figure around which Japan will build their attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He may have been off-Broadway in his career up until now, but for both club and country, Minamino is now very much centre stage, which you suspect is exactly where he wants to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Photo: <\/strong>Liverpool FC<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eighteen months ago, despite three and a half impressive seasons with Red Bull Salzburg in which he scored 31 goals in 95 games for the perennial Austrian champions, Takumi Minamino wasn\u2019t included in the extended 27-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia. By the end of this year, the 2013 J.League Rookie of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_gspb_post_css":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[514,134,15],"class_list":["post-1095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-club-football","tag-j-league","tag-japan"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Minamino ready to take centre stage - The Asian Game<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/ro\/minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ro_RO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minamino ready to take centre stage - The Asian Game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eighteen months ago, despite three and a half impressive seasons with Red Bull Salzburg in which he scored 31 goals in 95 games for the perennial Austrian champions, Takumi Minamino wasn\u2019t included in the extended 27-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia. By the end of this year, the 2013 J.League Rookie of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/ro\/minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Asian Game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-16T00:51:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-23T04:59:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Minamino_13-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1193\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"784\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@www.twitter.com\/PaulWilliams_85\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.theasiangame.net\\\/minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.theasiangame.net\\\/minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paul Williams\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.theasiangame.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/35d5fc2ea75ad8209bf01bf0eba938f2\"},\"headline\":\"Minamino ready to take centre stage\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-16T00:51:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-23T04:59:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.theasiangame.net\\\/minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1582,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.theasiangame.net\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.theasiangame.net\\\/minamino-ready-to-take-centre-stage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.theasiangame.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/Minamino_13-1.jpeg?fit=1193%2C784&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Club Football\",\"J. 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