Sota Hirayama

Sota Hirayama
	Hirayama playing for FC Tokyo
Personal information
Full name	Sota Hirayama
Date of birth	June 6, 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth	Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
2001–2003	Kunimi High School
2004–2005	University of Tsukuba
Senior career*
Years	Team
2005–2006	Heracles Almelo
2006–2016	FC Tokyo
2017	Vegalta Sendai
Total
National team
2003–2005	Japan U-20
2004	Japan U-23
2010	Japan
Honours
FC Tokyo
Representing Japan
AFC U-20 Asian Cup
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Sota Hirayama (平山相太, Hirayama Sota, born June 6, 1985) is a former Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Biography

Hirayama was born in Kitakyushu on June 6, 1985. After dropped out from University of Tsukuba, he joined Dutch Eredivisie club Heracles Almelo in summer 2005. He played many matches and scored 8 goals. In September 2006, he returned to Japan and signed with J1 League club FC Tokyo. He played many matches and FC Tokyo won the champions in the 2009 J.League Cup. However FC Tokyo was relegated to J2 League end of the 2010 season. In April 2011, he also broke his leg and he could only play one game. In 2012, the club returned to J1, however he broke his leg again in May and he could hardly play in the match. From 2013 he played many matches as substitute. He moved to Vegalta Sendai in 2017. However he got hurt on the day after the opening game. He could not play for the injury in this season. In January 2018, he announced his retirement after having too many injuries.

In November 2003, when Hirayama was 18 years old, he was selected the Japan U-20 national team for 2003 World Youth Championship. He played 4 matches and scored 2 goals. In 2004, he was selected for the Japan U-23 national team for 2008 Summer Olympics and played one game. In 2005, he played for U-20 Japan at 2005 World Youth Championship again. He played all 4 matches and score one goal. In January 2010, he was selected the Japan national team for 2011 Asian Cup qualification. At this qualification, he debuted against Yemen on January 6. He scored a hat trick to help Japan to a 3–2 victory. It was the first time in 80 years and the second time overall for a Japan player to score three goals on his debut. Takeo Wakabayashi last managed that in 1930. He played 4 games and scored 3 goals for Japan in 2010.

Statistics

^[1]^[2]

Club statistics			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Asia		Total
2005–06	Heracles Almelo	Eredivisie	31	8	0	0	-		-		31	8
2006–07	Heracles Almelo	Eredivisie	1	0	0	0	-		-		1	0
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Total
2006	FC Tokyo	J1 League	7	2	0	0	0	0	-		7	2
2007			20	5	3	2	2	0	-		25	7
2008			24	2	3	2	8	4	-		35	8
2009			26	4	3	1	9	4	-		38	9
2010			30	7	4	4	6	1	-		40	12
2011		J2 League	1	0	0	0	-		-		1	0
2012		J1 League	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	6	0
2013			21	5	3	1	3	0	-		27	6
2014			19	3	2	2	6	1	-		27	6
2015			2	0	0	0	2	0	-		4	0
2016			15	5	2	1	2	0	2	0	21	6
2017	Vegalta Sendai	J1 League	0	0	0	0	0	0	-		0	0
Country	Netherlands		32	8	0	0	-		-		32	8
Country	Japan		169	33	20	13	39	10	3	0	231	56
Total			201	41	20	13	39	10	3	0	263	64