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Ko Itakura

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Ko Itakura
板倉 滉
Itakura with Vegalta Sendai in 2018
Personal information
Full name Ko Itakura[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-27) 27 January 1997 (age 27)[1]
Place of birth Yokohama, Japan
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Number 3
Youth career
2006–2014 Kawasaki Frontale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Kawasaki Frontale 7 (0)
2015 → J. League U-22 (loan) 2 (0)
2018 → Vegalta Sendai (loan) 24 (3)
2019–2022 Manchester City 0 (0)
2019–2021 → FC Groningen (loan) 56 (1)
2021–2022 → Schalke 04 (loan) 31 (4)
2022– Borussia Mönchengladbach 54 (4)
International career‡
2013 Japan U16 2 (0)
2015–2017 Japan U20 8 (1)
2018–2021 Japan U23 24 (6)
2019– Japan 35 (2)
Medal record
Representing  Japan
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Team
AFC U-19 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2016 Bahrain
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024

Ko Itakura (板倉 滉, Itakura Kō, born 27 January 1997) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as centre-back or defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Japan national team.[3]

Club career

[edit]

Born in Yokohama, Itakura joined J1 League club Kawasaki Frontale in 2015, with which he won the 2017 Japanese championship.[citation needed]

He was loaned to Vegalta Sendai in 2018.[citation needed]

In January 2019, he joined Premier League club Manchester City and was immediately loaned to Eredivisie club Groningen, until the summer of 2020.[4] On 24 July 2020, his stay with Groningen was extended with one more year after both clubs agreed.[5]

On 19 August 2021, Itakura signed a season-long loan deal with 2. Bundesliga club Schalke 04 with an option to make the move permanent for £5 million.[6] At the end of the season, he was promoted to the Bundesliga with Schalke, but the club did not activate the option due to financial reasons.[7]

On 2 July 2022, he returned to Germany and signed permanently with Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach for a €5 million transfer fee.[citation needed]

On August 19 2023, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga against Augsburg, and on September 2, he scored a goal against Bayern Munich, which had the most wins and were the champions of the previous year.[8] On September 8th, he was selected as the team's MVP for August.[9]

International career

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In May 2017, Itakura was called up to the Japan U-20 national team for the 2017 U-20 World Cup. At this tournament, he played 2 matches as defensive midfielder.[citation needed]

He was selected for the senior Japan national football team for 2019 Copa América and made his debut on 20 June 2019 in the game against Uruguay, as a starter.[10]

On March 29, 2021, he scored two goals against the Argentina national under-24 football team, and was also selected to represent Japan at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing in 4th place.[11]

In November 2022, he was selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Japan National team for the first time.[12] Participated in all group stage matches and became the first Asian team to win first place in an overseas World Cup group league, contributing to advance to the final tournament for two consecutive tournaments. His long ball was the starting point of the come-from-behind goal against Germany. He was also named in the first group stage best eleven by Spain's 'Marca' and Italy's version of 'Sky Sports'.[13] The former named him one of the players to double his value in the World Cup and described him as "the most consistent performance of the entire tournament".[14]

On March 28, 2023, he served as captain for the first time in the second match of the second term of Moriyasu Japan against Colombia.[15]

Career statistics

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Club

[edit]
As of match played 9 November 2024[16][17][18][1][19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental[c] Other[d] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kawasaki Frontale 2015 J1 League 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0
2016 J1 League 2 0 3 0 1 0 – 1 0 7 0
2017 J1 League 5 0 3 0 4 0 3 1 – 15 1
Total 7 0 6 0 5 0 3 1 1 0 22 1
Vegalta Sendai (loan) 2018 J1 League 24 3 4 0 4 0 – – 32 3
Manchester City 2018–19 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
Groningen (loan) 2018–19 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 – – – 0 0
2019–20 Eredivisie 22 0 1 0 – – – 23 0
2020–21 Eredivisie 34 1 1 0 – – 1 0 36 1
Total 56 1 2 0 – – 1 0 59 1
Schalke 04 (loan) 2021–22 2. Bundesliga 31 4 1 0 – – – 32 4
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2022–23 Bundesliga 24 0 1 0 – – – 25 0
2023–24 Bundesliga 20 3 2 0 – – – 22 3
2024–25 Bundesliga 10 1 2 1 – – – 12 2
Total 54 4 5 1 – – – 59 5
Career total 172 12 18 1 9 0 3 1 2 0 204 14
  1. ^ Includes Emperor's Cup, KNVB Cup
  2. ^ Includes J.League Cup
  3. ^ Includes AFC Champions League
  4. ^ Includes J1 League Championship, Eredivisie European play-offs

International

[edit]
As of match played 19 November 2024[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 2019 3 0
2020 1 0
2021 1 1
2022 11 0
2023 6 0
2024 13 1
Total 35 2

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.[20]

List of international goals scored by Ko Itakura
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 28 May 2021 Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba, Japan  Myanmar 10–0 10–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 19 November 2024 Xiamen Egret Stadium, Xiamen, China  China 2–0 3–1 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

[edit]

Kawasaki Frontale

Vegalta Sendai

Schalke 04

Individual

  • TAG Heuer YOUNG GUNS AWARD: 2018[22]
  • Groningen Player of the Year: 2020/21[23]
  • Borussia's Player of the Month: August 2023
  • Japan Pro-Footballers Association Best XI: 2022, 2023

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Ko Itakura at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 August 2023. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "Ko Itakura". Borussia Mönchengladbach. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Ko Itakura". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Akkoord FC Groningen met Manchester City over Japanner Itakura". FC Groningen (in Dutch). 14 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Het nieuws uit Groningen - RTV Noord". 24 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Ko Itakura joins Schalke on loan with an option to buy". FC Schalke 04. 19 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Great person and player – Schalke 04 bid farewell to Ko Itakura". FC Schalke 04. 31 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Akira Itakura celebrates his second goal of the season" (in German). 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Itakura named Borussia's Player of the Month for August". Borussia Mönchengladbach. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Uruguay v Japan game report". CONMEBOL. 20 June 2019.
  11. ^ "SAISON CARD CUP 2021". JFA. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  12. ^ "SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) squad - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™". 8 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Japan national team, Ko Itakura, followed by Spanish newspaper, Italian newspaper also selected as "Best Eleven" in World Cup Group League Round 1!(JP)". 8 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Japan national team defender whose value doubled in the World Cup Aggressiveness and good defense with foresight Spanish newspaper highly praises". 9 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Japan v Colombia game report". JFA. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  16. ^ 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. 96 out of 289)
  17. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 28 out of 289)
  18. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑", 10 February 2016, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411338 (p. 55 out of 289)
  19. ^ Ko Itakura at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  20. ^ a b Ko Itakura at National-Football-Teams.com Edit this at Wikidata
  21. ^ "Schalke crowned 2021/22 Bundesliga 2 champions". 15 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Ko Itakura 『TAG Heuer YOUNG GUNS AWARD』". 17 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Football ITAKURA Kou - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
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