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Ritsu Doan's early life, childhood and career in Japan
Ritsu's first setback came in the fourth grade!
Ritsu Doan(堂安 律 in kanji) was born in 1998 in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. Ritsu began kicking a ball at the age of three, when he followed his two older brothers to practice at a small local soccer club. Mr. Tamura, the coach of that soccer club, Urakaze FC, noticed from the first glance that he was different from other children. When Mr. Tamura rolled the ball to him, who was watching his brother practice in a corner of the field, he kicked it back with more force than he had ever imagined.
Ritsu joined the training of Urakaze FC at the age of four and became a member as soon as he entered elementary school. By the time he was officially registered, his skill was already outstanding. He was playing FW at the time, and in a tournament he overtook all the DFs and even dodged the goalkeeper in the end to score a goal. Mr. Tamura said he was like a little Maradona then. Outside of team practice, he would go to the neighborhood park with his two older brothers to chase the ball. He was just soaked in soccer every day.
Ritsu's first setback came in the fourth grade when he failed a selection to the Cerezo Osaka Academy. He thought he was the best player in Urakaze FC, but when he went to the selection, all the guys were better than him. After failing the selection, he moved to Nishinomiya Soccer School.
Ritsu spoke of those days: "What was frustrating was that three players from Nishinomiya SS were accepted to the Cerezo Academy, just as if they were replacing me. I thought I would definitely look back on them someday. When I was in junior high school, if I got an offer from Cerezo's junior youth team, I thought I would turn it down in a second." From then on, he became even more rebellious and devoted to soccer.
Mr. Hayano, then coach of Nishinomiya SS, was troubled by the situation in which the team's three center linemen (FW, MF, and DF) had all left at once, removing the backbone of the team. He looked back fondly on Ritsu, who saved the team. At a small tournament hosted by Takarazuka City in 2007, Mr. Hayano suddenly selected Ritsu, who was new to the team, to be a starter. Mr. Hayano had heard rumors about him and wanted to see with his own eyes just how good he really was.
Mr. Hayano said of the match, "I was surprised. His footwork and dribbling technique were so different from the other kids. When he had the ball, he would quickly get past three or four players and score a goal. He was the MVP and leading scorer in his first tournament. I thought, 'Here's a great kid.'"
Ritsu said of Hayano, "I have met many coaches in my life, but Coach Hayano was the first one who had an influence on me. When I told him about my childish dream of becoming Maradona, he didn't think it was just a child's nonsense, but rather, he took me under his wing. Thanks to him, I was able to play soccer with a lot of freedom, and I practiced a lot. There were games where passing was forbidden, and I just mastered the dribble."
Ritsu's team was unable to make it to the national tournament, losing narrowly in the prefectural qualifying round at the All Japan Boys Soccer Tournament for sixth-grade students. Nevertheless, he had a strong showing in another tournament where he scored a total of eight goals, and by that time he was considered the number one elementary school player in the Kansai region.
Then, when Ritsu entered junior high school, he received an offer from Cerezo's junior youth team. As he once thought, he turned it down in one second. He thought he had become good because he was rebellious enough not to be beaten by the Cerezo guys. Instead, he went on to the Gamba Osaka junior youth team. Gamba Osaka's junior youth team was a group of Kansai's elite, the perfect environment for his competitive spirit.
The generation one above Ritsu was particularly strong. They were the generation that came in second in the Manchester United Premier Cup, an international tournament that decides the best in the world for the U-15 generation. Two years above him were Yosuke Ideguchi (who played for Leeds United FC in 2018-2019) and Daichi Kamata (who will play for Crystal Palace FC from 2024), two of the most talented players in the world. In such an environment, Ritsu practiced hard with his natural competitive spirit.
Ritsu initially played in the junior youth team, first as a volante. However, he was slower than his teammates, and by the summer of his first year of junior high school he could no longer dribble through at speed. His style of play became one of using technique in the midfield, being less athletic and not running after a pass.
It was then that his coach at the time, Kamogawa, said to him, "You're playing like an old man. If you don't change your style, you'll end up playing like the old No. 10. You are not a genius. Yosuke was active in the junior high school game since he was in the first year of junior high school." These words deeply penetrated Ritsu's heart.
When Ritsu was worried that he could not continue as he was, Coach Kamogawa converted him to side half because he thought his essence was dribbling. From there, he became more conscious of mastering dribbling to get past opponents with more than just speed. As a result, in the fall of his first year of junior high school, he made it to the top team, which consisted mainly of third-year junior high school students.
Furthermore, when he was in his third year of junior high school, he became a FW due to a lack of FWs. The importance of shooting and getting out from the back that he felt at this time helped him to establish his style of play when he became a professional. For Ritsu, Coach Kamogawa was a strict, but thoughtful coach who listened to him when he expressed his opinions.
Ritsu was promoted to the youth team in 2014 and called up to train with the first team as a high school freshman. The following year, he became the second-youngest player in club history to make his professional debut, and in June he became the youngest player in club history (16 years and 11 months) to play in J1. As he gained experience on the professional stage, he developed at an even faster pace. By the time he was a senior in high school, he had developed a ruggedness that surprised everyone in his grade.
From there, Ritsu took not one, but no longer two or three steps up the ladder. He had a successful 2017, scoring three goals in four games at the U-20 World Cup, and in June he moved to Groningen in the Netherlands. He scored nine goals and four assists in his first year trying out abroad and was named Supporters' Player of the Year. He moved to PSV in the Netherlands in 2019 and as of 2024 he is with SC Freiburg in Germany.
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