Takefusa Kubo – The Next Japanese Football Star?
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Takefusa Kubo, 19 years old, is a Japanese footballer who plays as a winger for the Spanish club Villarreal, on loan from Real Madrid, and the Japan national team.
Takefusa Kubo has one goal and two assists for Villarreal in Europa League. Kubo scored the opening goal and assisted on another two last week as Villarreal kicked off their Europa League campaign with a 5-3 win against Turkey’s Sivasspor. Making his first start for Villarreal, the 19-year-old Japan winger scored from close range in the 13th minute at Estadio de la Ceramica to register his first goal since arriving on loan from Real Madrid.
“We got our goals first, but then they took advantage of our mistakes and what they were good at, which was the long ball and winning the aerial battles,” Kubo said. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is to win. It was tough out there tonight, but we managed to do just that and we’re all happy”.
Villarreal manager Unai Emery has used Kubo sparingly so far this season in La Liga, but the teenager’s outstanding performance on the European stage made a compelling case for further inclusion in the starting line-up.
On 14 June 2019, Kubo signed with Spanish club Real Madrid on a five-year deal. Although registered with their U-19 team, he had been expected to mainly play for Real Madrid B during the 2019–20 season. However, he featured regularly with the first team during Real Madrid’s preseason tour in the United States and Germany.
On 22 August 2019, Kubo joined RCD Mallorca on a season-long loan. He has become the third Japanese player in Mallorca’s history after Yoshito Okubo and Akihiro Ienaga. On September 1st, Kubo made his La Liga debut playing 15 minutes in a 2–0 loss to Valencia. He scored his first goal on 10 November 2019 against Villareal in a 3–1 victory. On the 10th of August of this year, Kubo was loaned to Villarreal CF until the end of the 2020–21 season. His fans are expecting him to be part of Real Madrid’s starting eleven next season.
