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Ko Itakura

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Japanese footballer (born 1997)

Ko Itakura
板倉 滉
Itakura with Vegalta Sendai in 2018
Personal information
Full name Ko Itakura
Date of birth (1997-01-27) 27 January 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Yokohama, Japan
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
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 59 (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 21 December 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.

Club career

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

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. 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.

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. On September 8th, he was selected as the team's MVP for August.

International career

Itakura 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.

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.

In November 2022, he was selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Japan National team for the first time. 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 Spanish Marca and Italian Sky Sport. 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".

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.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other 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 15 1 2 1 – – – 17 2
Total 59 4 5 1 – – – 64 5
Career total 177 12 18 1 9 0 3 1 2 0 209 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

As of match played 19 November 2024
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.

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

Kawasaki Frontale

Vegalta Sendai

Schalke 04

Individual

References

  1. ^ 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 (in Dutch). 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. "Borussia unterliegt dem FC Bayern spät mit 1:2" (in German). 2 September 2023. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023.
  9. "Itakura ist Borussias Spieler des Monats August" [Itakura named Borussia's Player of the Month for August]. Borussia Mönchengladbach (in German). Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  10. "Uruguay v Japan game report". CONMEBOL. 20 June 2019.
  11. "Saison Card Cup 2021". Japan Football Association. 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. 杯で価値が倍増した日本代表DF「アグレッシブさと生読みで良い守備」スパイン紙が高評価. Football Channel (in Japanese). 9 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  15. "Japan v Colombia game report". Japan Football Association. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  16. J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK) (in Japanese). Japan: Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing Inc. 7 February 2018. ISBN 978-4905411529.
  17. 2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK) (in Japanese). Japan: Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc. 8 February 2017. p. 28. ISBN 978-4905411420.
  18. 2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (in Japanese). Japan: Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc. 10 February 2016. p. 55. ISBN 978-4905411338.
  19. Ko Itakura at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  20. ^ Ko Itakura at National-Football-Teams.com Edit this at Wikidata
  21. "Schalke crowned 2021/22 Bundesliga 2 champions". Bundesliga. 15 May 2022.
  22. "Ko Itakura 『Tag Heuer Young Guns Award』". Vegalta. 17 December 2018.
  23. "Football Ko Itakura - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  24. "JPFA 日本プロサッカー選手会". ニュース：JPFA 日本プロサッカー選手会 (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 January 2025.

External links

Borussia Mönchengladbach – current squad
Japan squads
Japan squad – 2019 Copa América
Japan
Japan men's football squad – 2020 Summer Olympics – Fourth place
Japan
Japan squad – 2022 FIFA World Cup
Japan
Japan squad – 2023 AFC Asian Cup
Japan
JPFA Best XI (DF)
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