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Keisuke Honda

Personal information
Full name	Keisuke Honda
Date of birth	(1986-06-13) 13 June 1986 (age 26)
Place of birth	Osaka, Japan
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current club	CSKA Moscow
Number	7
Youth career
	Settsu FC
1999–2001	Gamba Osaka
2002–2004	Seiryō High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2007	Nagoya Grampus	90	(11)
2008–2010	VVV-Venlo	68	(24)
2010–	CSKA Moscow	53	(12)
National team‡
2005	Japan U-20	1	(0)
2006–2008	Japan U-23	18	(5)
2008–	Japan	32	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:04, 13 May 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 May 2012

Keisuke Honda (本田 圭佑, Honda Keisuke^?, born 13 June 1986) is a Japanese footballer who currently plays for CSKA Moscow and the Japan national football team. His current position is as a deep-lying playmaker, but he can equally play as an attacking midfielder or second striker. He is also a very skilled free kick taker, scoring one in the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Club career[link]

Early career[link]

Honda was born in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He started playing football for the local club; Settsu FC, he started there when he was in second grade at primary school. He entered Seiryo High School in Ishikawa Prefecture and chose to play for the school. He was one of the best players in the team and the school team advanced to the semi-finals of the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament. This was the first time a school from Ishikawa Prefecture had reached the semi-finals of the competition.^[1]

In 2004 he was selected as a Designated Player for Development by the J-League and JFA.

Nagoya Grampus[link]

Because of this status, Honda was able to register as a Nagoya Grampus player while he was still eligible to play for his high school. He played one J. League Cup match for Nagoya while he was still a boy student.

After his graduation, he officially joined Nagoya in 2005. He started the first match of the season and recorded an assist. In 2006, he became a regular in the club.

VVV-Venlo[link]

Honda with VVV-Venlo

Honda celebrates his goal against FC Groningen at the De Koel stadium on August 22, 2009

On January 16, 2008, Honda signed a two and half year deal with Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo. The team was relegated to the Eerste Divisie, the second division after the 07-08 season and was in the division for the 08-09 season. In the 08-09 season, he scored 16 goals in 36 league appearances to help the team to be promoted to Eredivisie for the 09-10 season. He became known as 'Keizer Keisuke' (Emperor Keisuke) among the fans of VVV-Venlo.^[2]

CSKA Moscow[link]

At the end of December 2009, Honda transferred to Russian club CSKA Moscow.^[3] Honda signed a 4 year contract.^[4] The transfer fee was undisclosed, but VVV-Venlo was said to be very content with the fee as it almost matched their asking price; it is believed to be in the region of 6 million euros.^[2]

Honda made his debut for CSKA in the UEFA Champions League match against Sevilla.^[5] In the second leg in Seville, he scored the winning goal through a direct free kick for CSKA after having set up the first goal for Tomáš Necid. This secured a 2–1 (3–2 aggregate) victory to send the club to the quarterfinals, making Honda the first Japanese player to be in the quarterfinals as well as the first to score in the knock-out stages.

Honda scored his first league goal on 12 March 2010, in the home match against Amkar Perm. He scored the goal in the third minute of injury time, slotting home a pass from Necid with his left. With the goal, he secured the win for CSKA Moscow.^[6]

International career[link]

He was a member of the Japan team for 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and played for U-23 national team, that qualified for 2008 Summer Olympics football tournament finals. He made a full international debut for Japan on June 22, 2008 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. On 14 July 2008, he was formally named as one of the midfielders of the Japanese U-23 national football team for the Beijing Olympics football competition.^[7] He scored his first goal for senior national team on 27 May 2009 in a friendly match against Chile at Nagai Stadium in Osaka. He is given the nickname "Emperor Keisuke".

2010 World Cup[link]

Honda scored Japan's winning goal in their first 2010 World Cup match against Cameroon, finishing off Daisuke Matsui's cross into the top left corner of the net and this was the only goal in the match. His performance in the game gained him the Man of the Match Award from FIFA. In the final group-stage game against Denmark, he scored a free kick in the 17th minute from 30 yards out before turning provider for Shinji Okazaki after making his way into the penalty area, with a Cruyff Turn that beat a Denmark player, in the 88th minute to make the score 3–1 to Japan, a performance that earned him the man of the match award once more and Japan qualified for the second round where they were eliminated by Paraguay after 0–0 a.e.t. and 4–5 at penalties (Honda scored his penalty).^[8] Jonathan Wilson of The Guardian cited him as a 'false nine': a player superficially employed as a centre forward but moving deeper to pull the opposition defence around the pitch.^[9]

2011 AFC Asian Cup[link]

Honda was included in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. In the game against Syria he scored a penalty kick making the score 2–1 for Japan. He earned player of the match for that game. In the semi-finals against Korea Republic, he took a penalty kick, but was blocked by Jung Sung-Ryong. However, in the penalty shoot out of the game, he scored. Again, he earned player of the match.

Honda was awarded the most valuable player of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

Personal life[link]

Honda's elder brother was also a footballer. Honda's uncle Daizaburo Honda was a canoeist who represented Japan in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Daizaburo's son and Keisuke's cousin Tamon Honda participated in three Olympic Games in freestyle wrestling in 1984, 1988, and 1992 and is now a professional wrestler.^[10]

Career statistics[link]

As of March 17, 2011

Club[link]

^*Includes other competitive competitions, including the Eredivisie/Eerste Divisie Relegation, Russian Super Cup and UEFA Europa League.

International[link]

Honda in training (August 21, 2009)

International goals[link]

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

Under-23[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	7 August 2006	Qinhuangdao Olympic Stadium, Qinhuangdao	China PR	1–0	2–0	Friendly Match
2.	29 November 2006	Qatar SC Stadium, Doha	Pakistan	1–0	3–2	2006 Asian Games
3.	18 April 2007	Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus	Syria	1–0	2–0	2008 Summer Olympics qualification
4.	16 May 2007	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	Hong Kong	3–0	4–0	2008 Summer Olympics qualification
5.	17 November 2007	My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi	Vietnam	3–0	4–0	2008 Summer Olympics qualification

Senior team[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	27 May 2009	Nagai Stadium, Osaka	Chile	4–0	4–0	2009 Kirin Cup
2.	10 October 2009	Nissan Stadium, Yokohama	Scotland	2–0	2–0	Friendly Match (2009 Kirin Challenge Cup)
3.	14 October 2009	Miyagi Stadium, Rifu	Togo	5–0	5–0	Friendly Match (2009 Kirin Challenge Cup)
4.	3 March 2010	Toyota Stadium, Toyota	Bahrain	2–0	2–0	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5.	14 June 2010	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Cameroon	1–0	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup
6.	24 June 2010	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg	Denmark	1–0	3–1	2010 FIFA World Cup
7.	13 January 2011	Qatar SC Stadium, Doha	Syria	2–1	2–1	2011 AFC Asian Cup
8.	10 August 2011	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo	South Korea	2–0	3–0	Friendly Match (2011 Kirin Challenge Cup)

Appearances in major competitions[link]

Team	Competition	Category	Appearances		Goals	Team Result
			Start	Sub
Japan	2005 FIFA World Youth Championship	U-20	1	0	0	Round of 16
Japan	2008 Summer Olympics qualification	U-22	10	0	3	Qualified
Japan	2008 Summer Olympics	U-23	3	0	0	Round 1
Japan	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification	Senior	1	2	0	Qualified
Japan	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification	Senior	1	2	1	Qualified
Japan	2010 FIFA World Cup	Senior	4	0	2	Round of 16
Japan	2011 AFC Asian Cup	Senior	5	0	1	Champions

Awards and honours[link]

Japan[link]

• AFC Asian Cup: 1

2011

Club[link]

VVV-Venlo

• Eerste Divisie: 1

2008–09

CSKA Moscow

• Russian Cup: 1

2010–11

Individual[link]

• AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 1

2011

• Japanese Footballer of the Year: 1

2010

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keisuke Honda

• Official site (Japanese)
• Keisuke Honda – balance inc. (sports management company) (Japanese) (English)
• ESPN Profile
• pfc-cska.org Profile

Japan Squads v t e Japan squad – 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship 1 Matsui 2 Mizumoto 3 Yoshihiro 4 Kobayashi 5 Masushima 6 Inoha 7 Kajiyama 8 Nakamura 9 Hirayama 10 Hyodo 11 Cullen 12 Mizuno 13 Honda 14 Funatani 15 Aoyama 16 Nagira 17 Ienaga 18 Yamamoto 19 Maeda 20 Morimoto 21 Nishikawa Coach: Okuma v t e Japan squad – 2008 Summer Olympics 1 Nishikawa 2 Hosogai 3 Yoshida 4 Mizumoto 5 Nagatomo 6 Morishige 7 Uchida 8 K. Honda 9 Toyoda 10 Kajiyama 11 Okazaki 12 Taniguchi 13 Yasuda 14 Kagawa 15 Morimoto 16 T. Honda 17 Lee 18 Yamamoto Coach: Sorimachi v t e Japan squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Narazaki 2 Abe 3 Komano 4 Túlio 5 Nagatomo 6 Uchida 7 Endo 8 Matsui 9 Okazaki 10 S. Nakamura 11 Tamada 12 Yano 13 Iwamasa 14 K. Nakamura 15 Konno 16 Ōkubo 17 Hasebe 18 Honda 19 Morimoto 20 Inamoto 21 Kawashima 22 Nakazawa 23 Kawaguchi (c) Coach: Okada v t e Japan squad – 2011 AFC Asian Cup Champions (4th Title) 1 Kawashima 2 Inoha 3 Iwamasa 4 Konno 5 Nagatomo 6 Uchida 7 Endō 8 Matsui 9 Okazaki 10 Kagawa 11 Maeda 12 Moriwaki 13 Hosogai 14 Fujimoto 15 T. Honda 16 Kashiwagi 17 Hasebe (c) 18 K. Honda 19 Lee 20 Nagata 21 Nishikawa 22 Yoshida 23 Gonda Coach: Zaccheroni