Ao Tanaka

Ao Tanaka (田中碧, Tanaka Ao, born 10 September 1998) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Fortuna Düsseldorf, and the Japan national team.

Ao Tanaka
Personal information
Full name Ao Tanaka
Date of birth (1998-09-10) 10 September 1998
Place of birth Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Japan
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Number 4
Youth career
2007–2016 Kawasaki Frontale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2022 Kawasaki Frontale 79 (7)
2021–2022 → Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 26 (1)
2022− Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 (0)
National team‡
2019–2021 Japan U23 18 (2)
2019– Japan 9 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 April 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 April 2022 (UTC)

Career

Raised for a decade in the Kawasaki Frontale youth ranks, Tanaka made his J1 League debut in September 2018 against Consadole Sapporo, scoring his first professional goal in just six minutes after he was subbed on. [2] He, then, got more minutes as a Kawasaki Frontale player, getting more starts with his club. As injuries struck the midfield options of Kawasaki Frontale during the 2019 season, he earned more starts with his club, participating in 24 J1 League matches throughout the season, acumulating 31 matches in total during the year, across 5 different competitions. As his performances continuously caught the eyes of many, and manager's approval, he was then awarded the 2019 J.League Rookie of the Year Award , in his first full professional season. With this feat, he is the only Kawasaki Frontale player ever, to win this award. [3] He made his debut for the Japan national football team at 10 December 2019, in a 2−1 win against China, in the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship. He played all of the 3 matches of the Japan team in the tournament. [4]

He estabilished for himself a good name among the Kawasaki Frontale players, playing a total of more than 2500 minutes across all competitions in the 2020 season, being a starter in most of the matches he played during it. His performances with the Kawasaki Frontale team also helped him earn caps with the Japan under-23 team, including a 2-goal performance that helped the Japan under-23s earn a 3−2 win over the Brazil under-23 team in a friendly match at 14 October 2019. [5]

On 26 June 2021, after two and a half professional seasons with Kawasaki Frontale, he joined German 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf on a year-long loan with an option to buy. [6] In the following month, he was named in the 18-player squad list for the 2020 Olympic Games − which was later increased to 22 players − alongside 2 Kawasaki Frontale ex-teammates, Kaoru Mitoma, and Reo Hatate. He started every match of the Japanese squad on the tournament.

He played his first match in the AFC qualification tournament for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, at 12 October 2021. He scored his first goal with the national team in a match against the Australia national football team. He scored at the 70-minute-mark, being his goal the winning one, in a match that ended 2−1 for Japan. [7] [8]

In 28 April 2022, the Fortuna Düsseldorf team, satisfied with his club and national team performances, exerced the buy-out option in his club contract to acquire him, paying his release clause to get him officialy signed for the club in 28 April 2022. He signed a 3-year long contract with the expiration date being 30 June 2025, encouraged by a sequence of game time with their first-team in the 2021–22 2. Bundesliga. [9]

Career statistics

Club
As of 28 April 2022[10][11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental[lower-alpha 3] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Kawasaki Frontale 2017 J1 League 0000000000
2018 J1 League 4100000041
2019 J1 League 241001041292
2020 J1 League 3152150–386
2021 J1 League 201000000201
Total 7982160419110
Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 2021–22 2. Bundesliga 26110——271
Career total 105931604111811
  1. Includes Emperor's Cup and DFB-Pokal
  2. Includes J. League Cup
  3. Includes AFC Champions League

International
As of 30 April 2022[1]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan 201920
202131
202240
Total91

International goals
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.12 October 2021Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan Australia1–02–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honors

Kawasaki Frontale

Individual

References
  1. "Japan National Team｜JFA｜Japan Football Association".
  2. J1デビュー弾の田中碧、どん欲な姿勢が実を結んだ瞬間「今までの人生で一番楽しかった時間」 (in Japanese). goal.com. 16 September 2018.
  3. "2019 J.LEAGUE Awards" (in Japanese). J.LEAGUE. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  4. "Ao Tanaka JFA Profile". JFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. "U-22 Japan National Team comes from behind to win over Brazil". JFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  6. "Fortuna verpflichtet Tanaka". kicker (in German). 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  7. "FIFA Match Center - Saudi Arabia vs Japan". FIFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. "FIFA Match Center - Japan vs Australia". FIFA. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  9. "Ao Tanaka signs a 3-year long contract with F95" (in German). Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  10. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 13 out of 289)
  11. Ao Tanaka at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 June 2021.


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