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

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

FC Tokyo , commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. From 2025, FC Tokyo is one of the few J.League clubs to be simply called ''Footb ...

. He is the son of former Chinese international Gao Sheng.

Career

After graduating from Ichiritsu Funabashi High School in Chiba, Ko signed his first professional contract with Gamba Osaka ahead of the 2017 season. He didn't feature for Gamba's senior side during his debut campaign, but played 28 times in J3 for Gamba U-23. 2018 was a more productive year and he started off captaining Gamba U-23, playing a total of 20 games and scoring 3 times. However, he spent most of the latter half of the year with Gamba's J1 side following the promotion of Gamba U-23 head coach

Tsuneyasu Miyamoto is a former Japanese football coach and former player who last coached Gamba Osaka. He played for Japan national team and is the current president of the Japan Football Association. A central defender, Miyamoto went on to make 71 internationa ...

. He made his J1 League debut in Miyamoto's first match as manager, a 1-1 draw at home to

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

on July 28 and made a total of 12 league appearances that year. In addition he also played once in the J.League Cup in the quarter-final tie against Yokohama F. Marinos.

Career statistics

Honours

; Albirex Niigata *

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

; Individual * J2 League Best XI:

References

External links

* 1998 births Living people Japanese men's footballers J1 League players category:J2 League players J3 League players Gamba Osaka players Gamba Osaka U-23 players category:Renofa Yamaguchi FC players Albirex Niigata players FC Tokyo players Japanese sportspeople of Chinese descent Men's association football midfielders Association football people from Kawasaki, Kanagawa 21st-century Japanese sportsmen {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1990s-stub