is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club,

Cerezo Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osak ...

Club career

Cerezo Osaka

Kakeru Funaki joined

in 2016. He made his debut against Yokohama F. Marinos in the

J.League Cup The is a Japanese Association football, football (soccer) competition organised by J.League, the men's association football league in Japan. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since it ...

on 15 March 2017. Funaki made his J1 league debut on 22 February 2019 against

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stad ...

. During the training camp held in February 2022, he tried playing in center back, defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder, as the club already had two left backs in Yusuke Maruhashi and Ryosuke Yamanaka. Funaki scored his first league goal against

Shimizu S-Pulse is a Japanese professional association football, football club located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. S-Pulse is going to compete in the J1 League for the 2025 Season, after winning promotio ...

on 26 June 2022, scoring in the 76th minute.

Cerezo Osaka U-23s

Funaki made his Cerezo Osaka U-23s debut in the

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan under the organization of J.League. The league is known as the for sponsorship reasons. The third-tier nation ...

against

Fujieda MYFC are a Japanese professional football club based in Fujieda, Shizuoka. They currently play in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football. It was previously funded by online subscribers and was the first of its kind in Japan. Th ...

on 20 March 2016. He scored his first league goal against

Giravanz Kitakyushu is a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. They currently play in J3 League, Japanese third tier of professional league football. History Mitsubishi Chemical SC (1947 –2000) The club was formed in 1947 as part o ...

on 22 September 2018, scoring in the 41st minute.

Loan to Júbilo Iwata

On 29 December 2019, Funaki was announced at Júbilo Iwata on loan. He made his league debut against

FC Ryukyu is a Japanese professional football club based in Okinawa. The club plays in the J3 League, Japanese third tier of professional football. The team's home stadium is Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The team derive ...

on 29 July 2020.

Loan to SC Sagamihara

On 8 January 2021, Funaki was announced at SC Sagamihara on loan. He made his league debut against

Kyoto Sanga is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Ho ...

on 28 February 2021. On 12 January 2022, Funaki's loan expired and he returned to Cerezo Osaka.

National team career

In May 2017, Funaki was selected in the Japan U-20 national team for the 2017 U-20 World Cup. At this tournament, he played 2 matches as a left back. Funaki was initially called up to the Japan U21 squad for the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

, but had to pull out due to injury, being replaced by

Takuma Ominami is a Japanese footballer who is currently playing for OH Leuven, on loan from club Kawasaki Frontale as a defender. Career Takuma Ominami joined J1 League club Júbilo Iwata in 2016. On May 25, he debuted in J.League Cup (v Kashima Antlers ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* *
Profile at Cerezo Osaka
1998 births Living people Association football people from Tokyo Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers J1 League players J2 League players J3 League players Cerezo Osaka players Cerezo Osaka U-23 players SC Sagamihara players Júbilo Iwata players Men's association football defenders 21st-century Japanese sportsmen {{Japan-footy-defender-stub