is a Japanese former 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 second striker. He holds the record for the youngest Japanese player to make his professional debut, and the youngest scorer in

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

history. Morimoto represented Japan at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

versions of the

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

, the

2004 AFC Youth Championship The 2004 AFC Youth Championship was the 33rd instance of the AFC Youth Championship. It was held from 25 September to 9 October 2004 in Malaysia. The tournament was won by for the eleventh time by South Korea in the final against China PR. V ...

, the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

, the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Club career

Youth career

Born in

Kawasaki, Kanagawa Kawasaki, officially Kawasaki City, is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, one of the main cities of the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. It is the second most populated city in Kanagawa Prefecture after Yokohama ...

, Morimoto began his youth career with Tsudayama FC in 1995. He joined

Tokyo Verdy is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club currently competes in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2023. History Founded as Yomiuri Football Club in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the mo ...

's, then known as Yomiuri SC's youth set-ups on 1998. He was eventually promoted to Verdy's first-team in May 2004, when he was a first grader at high school.

Tokyo Verdy

On 13 March 2004, Morimoto made his J1 League debut for

against

Júbilo Iwata is a Japanese professional association football, football team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Iwata, located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The club competes in J2 League following relegation from J1 League in 2024 J1 League, 2024. Etymology The team's ...

at the age of 15 years, 10 months and 6 days, a former league record for youngest player to debut (since passed by Maki Kitahara on 1 March 2025). He scored his first goal against JEF United Ichihara on 5 May of the same year, two days before his 16th birthday, another league record for youngest goal scorer. He captured the J.League Rookie of the Year Award for the 2004 season. During the 2004 season, Morimoto was teammates with former

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan Association football, football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero (Asunción), Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Paraguayan Primera División, Primera División titles ...

player Nozomi Hiroyama. In the 2005 season at Tokyo Verdy, Morimoto was teammates with Riki Kitawaki, who would play in Paraguay before Morimoto would do the same several years later. On 23 July 2006, Tokyo Verdy announced a one-year loan deal sending Morimoto to

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

Catania

Morimoto made his Serie A debut on 28 January 2007 during an away game against

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

. He entered the game in the 83rd minute and scored the equalizing goal, his first, just five minutes later. On 13 March 2007, it was confirmed by Catania that Morimoto had ruptured the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL) in his left knee and would be out for at least six months, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2006–07 season. Despite the serious injury, Catania recognized his potential and completed a permanent transfer deal in June 2007. On 14 December 2008, Morimoto signed a three-year contract extension with Catania until 30 June 2011. Morimoto had a breakthrough season for Catania during the 2008–09 season, as he scored ten goals in 25 league and

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

games while also being credited with several assists. Brazilian and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

star

Alexandre Pato Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (; born 2 September 1989), commonly known as Alexandre Pato () or just Pato, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Pato began ...

told Italian sports daily '' Corriere dello Sport'' that he believed Morimoto was the best young player in Serie A and compared him to Ronaldo. Despite all the talent and all the potential, the striker has never really lived up to all the expectations following an improvement in each of his first three seasons in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. During the 2009–10 season, Morimoto scored an additional five goals, adding a further two during the 2010–11 league campaign. His performances have often been over-shadowed by the likes of Giuseppe Mascara,

Maxi López Maximiliano Gastón López (born 3 April 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He holds both an Argentine and an Italian passport. He is known as ''El Rubio'' ("The Blonde"), and ''La Gallina de Oro'' ( ...

, Jorge Martínez and Gionatha Spinesi, while the signing of Argentine international Gonzalo Bergessio also limited his chances to feature. On 11 July 2011, Catania confirmed to have sold Morimoto to newly promoted Serie A club

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

in a co-ownership bid. Morimoto's season was hampered by injuries which limited the Japanese international to just 18 league appearances, producing four goals. At the end of the season, Novara was relegated to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

after placing 19th, and Morimoto officially returned to Catania on 21 June 2012. On 7 January 2013, Morimoto was loaned to Al-Nasr Dubai, coached by former Catania manager

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently club manager at Serie C club Siracusa. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best ...

. The loan deal expired on 30 June 2013, and the player returned to Sicily.

Later years

On 14 August 2013, Morimoto signed for

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 ...

club

JEF United Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chiba, capital of Chiba Prefecture. They currently play in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football. History Furukawa Electric SC (19 ...

for an undisclosed fee. On 24 December 2015, Morimoto signed for

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium i ...

on a two-year deal, with the contract starting on 1 February 2016. In October 2020, Morimoto signed for the Greek

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

club AEP Kozani for an undisclosed fee. Having not been able to play because of the league being indefinitely suspended because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

he asked for his release, making him a free agent. In January 2021, Primera División Paraguaya team Sportivo Luqueño confirmed through their president that Morimito was going to arrive to Paraguay to sign for the club. In February 2021, Morimoto signed with the club. He was presented by the club through Twitter. He joined former Paraguay national team players Edgar Benitez, Guillermo Beltran and Luis Cabral. On 17 April 2021, Morimoto debuted for Sportivo Luqueño against Nacional Asunción in a 1–0 away defeat, being substituted onto the field in the 81st for Guillermo Beltran. This was his only appearance for the club, as he was released soon after. On 23 August 2023,

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

club

Akragas Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonisation, Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading citie ...

announced the signing of Morimoto. However, the formal acquisition of the player was blocked by a number of bureaucratic issues related to his status as a non-EU citizen, which turned out to be insurmountable and led to the club announcing in January 2024 that the signing could not be completed at last.

International career

Morimoto represented Japan at the Japan U20 national team level at both the

and the 2005 World Youth Championship. In 2008, he was a member of the Japan U23 national team for the

, where the team was eliminated in the

preliminary round A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, losing all three matches and only managing to score one goal. On 10 October 2009, Morimoto made his debut for the senior national team against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, coming on as a substitute for Ryoichi Maeda in a 2–0 win.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> On 14 October 2009, he made his first start and scored his first goal against

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

in a 5–0 win.

Personal life

In March 2021, Morimoto was involved in a traffic collision in Paraguay after crashing his vehicle against a motorcycle.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Morimoto goal.''

Honours

Tokyo Verdy *

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Kawasaki Frontale *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual * J.League Rookie of the Year:

* Manchester United Premier Cup Most Valuable Player: 2003

References

External links

* *
Takayuki Morimoto
at Japan National Football Team Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morimoto, Takayuki 1988 births Living people Association football people from Tokyo Japanese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Japan men's international footballers Japan men's youth international footballers 21st-century Japanese sportsmen J1 League players J2 League players Serie A players UAE Pro League players Tokyo Verdy players Catania FC players Novara FC players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players JEF United Chiba players Kawasaki Frontale players Avispa Fukuoka players AEP Kozani F.C. players Olympic footballers for Japan Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics 2010 FIFA World Cup players Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Association football people from Kawasaki, Kanagawa