Kensuke Nagai facts for kids
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kensuke Nagai | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 5 March 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Current club | Nagoya Grampus | ||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1997 | Cariru Tênis Clube | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Iseigaoka SSS | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | Asakawa Junior High School | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Kyushu IU High School | ||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Avispa Fukuoka | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Vissel Kobe | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Nagoya Grampus | 57 | (13) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Standard Liège | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | → Nagoya Grampus (loan) | 42 | (12) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Nagoya Grampus | 62 | (17) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2022 | FC Tokyo | 179 | (21) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Nagoya Grampus | 80 | (14) | ||||||||||||||||
| National team‡ | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Japan U-18 | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Japan U-19 | 3 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Japan U-20 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2012 | Japan U-23 | 31 | (13) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2019 | Japan | 12 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||
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Honours
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† Appearances (Goals). |
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Kensuke Nagai (born March 5, 1989) is a Japanese football player. He is known as a striker, which means he plays in an attacking position to score goals. He currently plays for the J1 League club Nagoya Grampus.
Contents
Kensuke Nagai's Early Life and Career
Kensuke Nagai started playing football very young. From age 3, he lived in Ipatinga, Brazil, for five years. There, he began playing street football with his friends.
After returning to Japan, he played soccer for school teams. He joined the Kyushu International University High School club. He even played in two matches of the 85th All Japan High School Soccer Tournament.
In April 2007, he joined the Fukuoka University club. In 2009, his team won the 33rd Prime Minister's Cup All Japan College Soccer Tournament.
While still at Fukuoka University, Nagai also played for professional teams. He played for Avispa Fukuoka in 2009 and Vissel Kobe in 2010. He was a special player allowed to play for professional clubs while still in college.
Playing for Japan's National Team
Nagai's talent was noticed by the national team. On December 23, 2009, he was chosen for the Japan squad. This was for a game against Yemen in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification. He made his first full international appearance on January 6, 2010.
He was also part of the Japanese team for the 2012 Olympics. This was a big achievement for him.
Moving to European Football
In January 2013, Nagai moved to Standard Liège, a club in Belgium. However, he didn't get to play much there. So, from August 2013 to June 2014, he was loaned back to Nagoya Grampus.
In January 2015, he returned to Nagoya permanently. He continued to play for them and later for FC Tokyo, before coming back to Nagoya Grampus again in 2022.
Career Statistics
Here's a look at Kensuke Nagai's club career statistics. This table shows how many games he played and how many goals he scored for different teams.
As of 8 December 2024[update].
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other4 | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fukuoka University | 2009 | - | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Avispa Fukuoka | 2009 | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Vissel Kobe | 2010 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 2011 | 27 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | - | 40 | 9 | |
| 2012 | 30 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | - | 40 | 13 | ||
| Standard Liège | 2012–13 | 11 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 2013 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2014 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 38 | 19 | |||
| 2015 | 31 | 10 | - | 4 | 1 | - | - | 35 | 11 | ||||
| 2016 | 31 | 7 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | 34 | 7 | ||||
| FC Tokyo | 2017 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | - | - | 39 | 2 | ||
| 2018 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 36 | 5 | |||
| 2019 | 33 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 39 | 10 | |||
| 2020 | 26 | 4 | - | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | - | 33 | 5 | |||
| 2021 | 38 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 | - | - | 49 | 5 | |||
| 2022 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 23 | 0 | |||
| Nagoya Grampus | 2022 | 13 | 4 | - | 2 | 0 | - | - | 15 | 4 | |||
| 2023 | 33 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | - | - | 43 | 6 | |||
| 2024 | 34 | 6 | - | 8 | 3 | - | - | 42 | 9 | ||||
| Career total | 439 | 77 | 24 | 12 | 60 | 13 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 542 | 106 | |
International Goals for Japan
Kensuke Nagai has scored goals for the Japan national team. Here are his goals:
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 9 June 2019 | Hitomebore Stadium Miyagi, Rifu, Japan |  El Salvador |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2019 Kirin Challenge Cup |
| 2. | 2–0 | |||||
| 3. | 10 October 2019 | Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan |  Mongolia |
4–0 | 6–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Achievements and Awards
Kensuke Nagai has won several awards and championships throughout his career.
With Japan National Team
- Asian Games:
- Gold Medal: 2010
With Clubs
Nagoya Grampus
- J.League Cup: 2024
- Japanese Super Cup: 2011
FC Tokyo
- J.League Cup: 2020
Individual Awards
- AFC U-19 Championship Top Scorer: 2008
- Summer Universiade Top Scorer: 2009
- Asian Games Top Scorer: 2010
- J.League Best XI: 2019
