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13 Sota Hirayama
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| Position: FW
| | Born:6-Jun-1985
| | Height/Weight:191/81
| | Birthplace:Fukuoka |
| Previous Teams:Kunimi H.S., Tsukuba U., Heracles Almelo, FC Tokyo |
| Matches (J1/J2):27/0 | Goals:7/0 |
| First Appearance: 30-Sep-2006 FC Tokyo -vs- Albirex Niigata (@ Ajinomoto Stadium) |
| First Goal : 7-Oct-2006 FC Tokyo -vs- Oita Trinita (@ Ajinomoto Stadium) |
Dutch Eredivisie: |
| Matches:31 | Goals:4 |
| First Appearance: 20-Aug-2005 Heracles Almelo vs ADO Den Haag (@ the Hague) |
| First Goal :20-Aug-2005 Heracles Almelo vs ADO Den Haag (@ the Hague) |
| Year | Team | Appearances | Goals |
|---|
| 2006 | FC Tokyo | 7 | 2 |
| 2007 | FC Tokyo | 20 | 5 |
| TOTAL | 7 | 2 |
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Sota Hirayama first came to our attention as a tall, gangly but slightly uncoordinated youngster in his junior year at Kunimi High School, helping his team to the finals of the national high school tournament in January 2003 but falling to Ichiritsu Funabashi in the final match. At the time, Hirayama stood 183cm and though big by Japanese standards, was not especially unusual. He had good talent at collecting the ball in front of goal, and could score when given an opportunity, but we remarked in our report on the final match that he still needed a lot of work if he hoped to help Kunimi claim a championship in his senior year. Nevertheless, an acquaintence who follows Kunimi closely told us to " keep an eye on the kid . . . he is still growing so fast that his coordination hasnt caught up with his body, but by next year he is going to be the star of this tournament."
This proved to be a prescient comment in all ways but one. Hirayama would explode to prominence about two months before the 2004 national high school tournament began. It was at the U-20 World Youth Championships in Bahrain that Hirayama, a late inclusion in the squad at the tender age of 18, suddenly captured the eyes of the entire world. With three late appearances as a substitute, Hirayama scored twice and carried Japan to the quarterfinal, transforming every match in which he took part. When the national high school championship final rolled around, Hirayama was a nationwide phenomenon who shattered the scoring record for the tournament with 17 goals over 8 matches.
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The Rising Sun News had the good fortune to attend the match in the company of a member of FC Tokyo's top management and a European agent who took turns shaking my arm and declaiming in astonishment: "did you see THAT!!!". Though at the time we were not at liberty to discuss the matter, we can confirm to any doubters that there were at least three agents at the match (one of them the agent who handles Hidetoshi Nakata), and at least two European clubs had authorised the agents to contact Hirayama on their behalf and offer him an invitation to train with them for a month, with the prospect of a contract if he was succesful.
As it turned out, though, Hirayama would not enter the professional ranks for another 20 months. We have seen some highly critical articles written in the past few days which criticise the young man for his decision to delay a pro contract and enter Tsukuba University. These articles are disappointing, since they are placing the finger of blame where it does not belong. One needs only to look at Hirayama's very carefully considered and proactive actions since June 6, 2005, the date that Hirayama turned 20. Though Hirayama has been very reluctant to discuss his reasons for eschewing a J.League contract and entering university, instead, it is a well known fact in Hirayama's home town that the young man has very conservative parents, and has also spent most of the past five years under the close attention of former coach Komine, of Kunimi High. The three of them apparently prevailed on Hirayama to go to university, rather than turning pro. As a minor, Hirayama had no choice but to follow his parents' wishes, since he could not legally conclude a contract with any club without their approval.
But clearly, Hirayama was a bright kid who gives a lot of careful thought to his every decision. Just weeks after he turned 20 and became a legal adult under Japanese law, Hirayama was in Holland with the Japan youth national team, not only taking part in the tournament, but also working actively behind the scenes with his recently-hired agent to attract an offer from a European club. As Hirayama himself commented, he was determined to begin, as soon as possible, gaining the sort of experience and training that "you cant get anywhere else but Europe". Though the eighteen months he spent at Tsukuba University may be viewed by some as "wasted time", we do not agree. Hirayama not only increased his education; he also broadened his mind and his experiences,while still getting regular physical training, both at the university and as a member of Japan's U-20 and U-23 national teams.
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Hirayama began his professional career in mid-2005, with a move to the recently promoted Heracles Almelo. Though it was Hirayama's very first experience with "professional" football, and it took him six months to really settle in, his statistics were nevertheless quite impressive for a rookie. He scored a double in his first match, winning immediate affection from the fans and a frequent spot in the starting team. He finished the season with eight goals -- tops for Heracles that season, and the most scored by a Japanese player in one season since the ten goals scored by Hide Nakata in his first year with Perugia.
Hirayama's early performances were extremely encouraging, considering his age (20) and the fact that Japan has never had a player who really could do the job at a "traditional" centre forward position. Unfortunately, after what seemed like a spectacular start, everything suddenly collapsed around Hirayama, and his first experience in Europe ended in tragedy. The story of how this happened is quite complex, and there is probably no real "villain" to be found. Instead, it seems to be a case of a naiive and homesick boy (or at any rate, a very immature young man) running into a bit of bad luck, failing to deal with it in a mature way, and through no real "fault" of his own, destroying any relationship of trust with his employers.
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The problems began when it emerged that Hirayama's "agent" had been stealing money from him, collecting a part of his salary as well as pocketing appearance fees without telling the player that he was being paid to appear on TV and speak at public events. The "confidence man" -- a Mr. Suzuki -- was arrested and Hirayama eventually got most of his money back. However, alone in a strange country where he could not speak the language, Hirayama seems to have developed a paranoid suspicion of his own team management and coaches. He also seemed unable to handle the pressures of isolation and depression. For a youngster who lived a very sheltered life and always seemed a bit immature, the culture shock seems to have been overwhelming, and he failed to address this isolation by improving his language ability or developing "outside interests".
The problems intensified when Hirayama returned to Holland for pre-season training in August 2006. He reported to camp five kilograms overweight, and according to club insiders, seemed dismissive of the club's recommendations and the demand that he lose weight. He also had made no progress in learning either Dutch or English. All the signs suggest that he was suffering from a combination of homesickness, depression and culture shock. It is hard to blame Hirayama for this state of affairs, but neither could you expect the club to put up with a player who failed to perform well on the pitch, and whose attitude seemed "arrogant" and "insular", off the pitch. By the end of August, Heracles were clearly at the end of their rope.
At this point, Hirayama began casting about for some sort of help, and signed a contract with the highly experienced player agent Nobuaki Tanabe, to come in and try to sort things out with Heracles management. Tanabe has a reputation as a person who likes to "cut corners", and in a rather cutthroat business, he may not always be the most "trustworthy" individual. However, he does have a lot of experience dealing with European clubs, and he also was able to speak directly with Hirayama to find out what was bothering the youngster. It took just a day or two for Tanabe to recognise that Hirayama was suffering from advanced culture shock and depression, and that the only real solution was for the player to go home, get his head together, and try to start over from scratch. Fortunately, Heracles Almelo was very understanding, and agreed to terminate Hirayama's contract even though it had two years left to run.
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Hirayama was fortunate to land an immediate contract with FC Tokyo, and though his poor physical condition and lingering psychological scars prevented hm from doing much in the final three months of 2006, there were at least ssigns that he was moving back onto a positive track, in both his life and his playing career. He is finally in an environment more conducive to helping him grow, both as a football player and -- more importantly -- as a person. Clearly, life as a sheltered, but lavishly praised "star" player at a small-town high school did not prepare Hirayama for the social pressures of life as an adult, on his own, in Europe. Back in Japan, some of the pressure has been lifted from his shoulders. Nevertheless, it will be just as important for him to mature emotionally and socially as it will be for him to develop his footballing skills. We can only wish him the best of luck in both respects as he begins his J.League career in earnest, in 2007.
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