Shinya Yajima

Shinya Yajima
矢島 慎也
Yajima with Urawa Red Diamonds in 2013
Personal information
Full name Shinya Yajima[1]
Date of birth (1994-01-18) 18 January 1994 (age 30)[1]
Place of birth Urawa, Saitama, Japan
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Shimizu S-Pulse
Number 21
Youth career
0000–2005 Kitaurawa SSS
2006–2011 Urawa Red Diamonds
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2017 Urawa Red Diamonds 23 (2)
2014J.League U-22 Selection 3 (1)
2015–2016Fagiano Okayama 72 (13)
2018-2021 Gamba Osaka 82 (4)
2018 Gamba Osaka U-23 9 (0)
2018Vegalta Sendai (loan) 5 (0)
2022 Omiya Ardija 38 (4)
2023 Renofa Yamaguchi 36 (3)
2024– Shimizu S-Pulse 8 (1)
International career
2014-16 Japan U-23 15 (3)
Medal record
Urawa Reds
Winner AFC Champions League 2017
Runner-up J1 League 2014
Runner-up J.League Cup 2011
Runner-up J.League Cup 2013
Vegalta Sendai
Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2018
Representing  Japan
AFC U-23 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2016 Qatar
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 December 2023

Shinya Yajima (矢島 慎也, born 18 January 1994) is a Japanese football player who plays for Shimizu S-Pulse in the J2 League. He has previously played for both Urawa Red Diamonds and Fagiano Okayama. His regular playing position is midfielder.[2][3]

Club career

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Born and raised in the Urawa area of Saitama, Yajima came through the ranks with his local team Urawa Red Diamonds and joined their first team ahead of the 2012 season aged just 18. He made just a solitary appearance in the Emperor's Cup during his debut season as a professional, but the following year he earned more game time; playing 8 times in the league and 6 in the domestic cups where he found the back of the net 3 times. The next 2 seasons with Urawa saw him struggle to get on the pitch and he appeared just 7 and 6 times respectively in all competitions.

Owing to a lack of game time, Yajima was sent on a 2-season loan to J2 League side Fagiano Okayama in 2015. He immediately became a regular in their midfield and played 37 league games in both of his seasons with Okayama scoring 13 times in total as they finished 11th and 6th in the final standings.

After gaining good top-team experience in J2 it was back to Urawa for 2017 and although he featured more than he had done prior to moving to Okayama, he was still rather a peripheral figure at the Saitama Stadium. He made just 11 appearances in the league and 19 in total, including 4 in Urawa's victorious AFC Champions League campaign.

Yajima moved from Urawa to their fierce rivals Gamba Osaka ahead of the 2018 season.[4] However, he was not flavour of the month with new Brazilian coach Levir Culpi and played a mere 2 league and 2 league cup games in his first year in Osaka. Out of favour, he found himself featuring as an overage player for Gamba Under-23 in J3 League under the leadership of Tsuneyasu Miyamoto. He played 9 times in J3 before being loaned to J1 side Vegalta Sendai at the end of June.[5]

Game time was again hard to come by in Sendai and he played just 5 league games and 3 Emperor's Cup games as Vegalta finished runners up to his former club, Urawa. Tsuneyasu Miyamoto replaced Levir Culpi midway through the 2018 season with Gamba facing the real prospect of relegation to J2, he steadied the ship and was appointed as head coach permanently ahead of the 2019 campaign. Having worked with Yajima previously at Gamba Under-23, he recalled him to first team squad ahead of his first full season in charge at the Panasonic Stadium.[6]

National team career

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In August 2016, Yajima was selected in the Japan Under-23 national team squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics. At this tournament, he played all 3 matches and scored a goal against Sweden.[7]

Club statistics

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Updated to 10 December 2018.[8][9][2]

Club Season League Cup1 League Cup2 AFC Other3 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Urawa Red Diamonds 2011 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
2012 8 0 1 1 5 2 0 0 14 3
2013 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 7 1
2014 0 0 1 0 5 1 0 0 6 1
2017 11 1 1 0 2 0 4 0 1 0 19 1
Total 23 2 5 1 13 3 5 0 1 0 47 6
Fagiano Okayama 2015 37 8 1 0 38 8
2016 37 5 3 0 2 0 42 5
Total 74 13 4 0 2 0 80 13
Gamba Osaka 2018 2 0 0 0 2 0 4 0
2019 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0
Total 2 0 0 0 2 0 4 0
Vegalta Sendai 2018 5 0 3 1 0 0 8 1
Total 5 0 3 1 0 0 8 1
Career Total 104 15 12 2 15 3 5 0 3 0 139 20

1Includes Emperor's Cup.

2Includes J. League Cup.

3Includes Japanese Super Cup, J2 playoffs and FIFA Club World Cup.

Reserves performance
Club performance League Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Total
2014 J.League U-22 Selection J3 3 1 3 1
2018 Gamba Osaka U-23 9 0 9 0
Career total 12 1 12 1

Honours

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International

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Last Updated: 7 February 2019[10]

Japan U-23

Club

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Urawa Red Diamonds

References

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  1. ^ a b c "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017: List of Players: Urawa Reds" (PDF). FIFA. 29 November 2017. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Shinya Yajima Soccerway Player Statistics". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Shinya Yajima Gamba Osaka Player Profile". Gamba Osaka (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Gamba Osaka News – Shinya Yajima arrival". Gamba Osaka (in Japanese). 21 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Gamba Osaka News – Shinya Yajima loan departure". Gamba Osaka (in Japanese). 25 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Gamba Osaka News – Shinya Yajima Loan Return". Gamba Osaka (in Japanese). 23 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  7. ^ "U-23 Japan National Team squad, schedule – Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016". Japan Football Association. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  8. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑", 10 February 2016, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411338 (p. 199 out of 289)
  9. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 21 out of 289)
  10. ^ name="Shinya Yajima Soccerway Player Statistics"
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