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Takefusa Kubo's early life, childhood and career in Japan
Takefusa kicked a ball more than 350 days a year!
Takefusa Kubo(久保 建英 in kanji) was born in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture in 2001. He started kicking a ball every morning at a neighborhood park with his father, Takefumi, when he was two years old. He kicked a ball more than 350 days a year. He practiced dribbling, lifting, shooting, and controlling a rolling or floating ball when he was 3 or 4 years old.
His father also played soccer in high school and college, and Takefusa practiced by his father's example.He also started attending a soccer school. He played with first- and second-graders, as there were not many kindergarten students in the school.
Later, after he entered elementary school, he took the "Kawasaki Frontale Junior Selection" for 3rd grade and up, which he passed even though he was in the 2nd grade. According to Takasaki, who was the manager at the time, Takefusa was already on another level when he joined the team.
Takasaki said, "Takefusa was very particular about the way he approached and thought about soccer, and he never tried to waste a single play, even in training. He was excellent at game flow and situational judgment, and always played the best he could in the situation he was in."
After playing under Mr. Takasaki for about six months, Takefusa went to Spain. He was there because he had won the MVP award at the FC Barcelona camp, where the MVP player gets to play against Barcelona. When he returned home for the winter break and played on the field for Kawasaki Frontale, Takasaki was surprised at the change in him.
Takasaki said, "He had a slight change in the way he held the ball after he came back. When the ball is placed slightly differently, the way he stands and the atmosphere changes. When I saw Take coming back from Spain, I realized that this was the right thing for him."
Later, in the fourth grade, Takefusa jumped up two grades to the upper category (U-12). In addition to his soccer ability, his soccer thinking skills also jumped out at him, and the sixth graders around him took a shine to Takefusa. When Mr. Takasaki would watch game film with the players in meetings and ask them how they would respond to certain situations, Takefusa seemed to be the first to assess the situation accurately and speak up.
However, since he was playing in a category two grades higher, there were times when he was flustered by the difference in size. Once he was crushed, the next time he took an exquisite position to avoid a collision. That too he took a position not to run away from his opponent, but to overtake him. He received the ball at a distance and timing that would prevent his opponent from bumping into him, while observing the situation of the opponent he was marking, and instantly switched places. Takasaki has seen him do this many times as he outperformed his larger opponents with his thinking and tactics.
Then, in August of his fourth grade year, Takefusa became the first Japanese player to pass the entrance test for FC Barcelona's development organization (La Masia). He was transferred from the Kawasaki Frontale Academy to Spain. He joined Alevin C, a 10-11 year old team, and was the top scorer and MVP of the Mediterranean Cup U-12 tournament in the 2013-14 season. He joined Infantil A for the 2014-15 season, composed of 13-14 year olds. However, after FC Barcelona was sanctioned by FIFA for violating the acquisition and registration of foreign players under the age of 18, Takefusa was suspended from official competition and left La Masia.
Takefusa returned to Japan in March 2015 to join FC Tokyo's lower organization. The following year he was promoted to FC Tokyo U-18 as a skipper while still in his third year of junior high school. He skipped a grade in the Japan Club Youth Football Championship and became the first junior high school player in the history of the tournament to win the top scorer (5 goals). He broke the record for the youngest player in J-League history by playing in an official match in 2016, and in 2017 he became the youngest player in the J-League to score a goal at the age of 15 years and 10 months.
However, his team subsequently stagnated and was relegated, and he felt threatened by the fact that his main competition was in the J3 League. He made a direct appeal to the FC Tokyo staff, which led to a temporary transfer to Yokohama F. Marinos. He later said what he gained from his four months at F. Marinos: "If a player cannot implement the concepts required by the team, he will not be used in the game. I learned that the team's top priority is to win, and then I need to contribute in attack with my own characteristics. It was a great benefit for me to have learned this in my early teenage years," he said.
In 2019 he returned to FC Tokyo and showed an improved athleticism and defensive awareness that surprised even his coach. He was selected to start the season opener at the age of 17 years and 9 months, the third youngest in club history. After the season opener, he continued to start every game, contributing to the team's bid for the top spot. The manager at the time, Hasegawa, said of Takefusa, "I can only say one thing about him: he is wonderful. He has grown in every aspect. His mentality, which was a child when he moved to Yokohama F. Marinos on a temporary transfer, has matured. Physically, he can play with the same image as before, but he can carry and set up the ball without losing it to the opponent."
And on June 4, 2019, Takefusa celebrated his 18th birthday. He was no longer bound by the rules for acquiring and registering foreign players under the age of 18 that had caused him to leave Barcelona. He therefore moved to Real Madrid in Spain. He then had spells with RCD Mallorca, Villarreal, and others, and as of 2024 he is playing for Real Sociedad.
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