Every nation has countrymen who are highly esteemed and known around the world for what they do. Whether they’re actors, actresses, scientists, politicians, or professional athletes, they defy most odds at what they do. When it comes to football, one of Japan’s endeared players is Keisuke Honda.
Keisuke Honda – Fast Facts, Age, Abilities, Salary
Keisuke Honda, whose full name is Keisuke Honda (or in Japanese, 本田 圭佑, pronounced as “Honda Keisuke”), was born on June 13, 1986, in Settsu city, in Osaka, Japan. He is 5 feet and 11.5 inches tall, and plays football as the winger, forward, or attacking midfielder for CF Pachuca, a football club. He sports the number “2” on his Jersey.
As for wages, not all football players are paid the same amount. In the year 2014, Keisuke Honda reportedly made at least 2.75 million euros a year or 3.3 million dollars. His estimated net worth is around 13.8 million dollars. Though it may seem like a hefty amount, when compared to top names in the industry such as Cristiano Ronaldo, it isn’t much. Cristiano Ronaldo’s salary, as of 2016, was 32 million euros a year.
For his education, Honda attended Settsu FC from 1994 until 1998, Gamba Osaka from 1999 until 2001, and Seiryo High School from 2002 until 2004.
What Teams did Keisuke Honda Transfer to until 2018?
For his senior career timeline, he joined the Nagoya Grampus (a Japanese association football club in Nagoya) from 2004 to 2007, then VVV-Venlo (a Dutch football club) from January 2007 until December 2009. He would then move to CSKA Moscow (a Russian football club) and stay there for 5 years until 2014 when he moved to Associazione Calcio Milan, or “Milan”. In 2017, he transferred to Club de Futbol Pachuca, one of the oldest Mexican professional football teams.
Keisuke Honda has played thrice for National teams (JPN); for Japan U20 in 2005, Japan U23 from 2006 to 2008, and the Japan National Football team from 2008 onwards. He has since scored 36 goals for the Japan National Football team since he joined, as of May 2018.
Honda scored many goals for each squad he joined, leading his team to win both for his clubs and international games. For CSKA, he won their game on July 13, 2013, against Zenit by scoring the first goal as well as the last. He scored another goal for Milan with a free kick, the ball dashing through Italian club Chievo’s players on October 4, 2014.
More About C.F. Pachuca
“C.F. Pacucha”, a Mexican football club that was founded on November 28, 1901, is an abbreviated name of “Club de Futbol Pachuca”. After recent winnings in the 1990’s, it is considered one of Mexico’s top successful clubs. The nicknames of this club include “The Gophers” or “Los Tuzos”, “Mexico’s Team”, or “El Equipo de Mexico”, “The Mexican Dean” or “El Decano Mexicano”, and lastly “The Cradle of Football”, or “La Cuna del Futbol”.
The ground the team usually plays in is either in Estado Hidalgo, located in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. Its capacity numbers at 27,512 and is owned by Grupo Pachuca. Currently, the chairman of the club is Jesus Martinez Patiño, however, the spot for the manager is currently vacant. It belongs to the Liga MX league and currently ranks as 9th in the Clausura 2018 (Lixa MX season).
The home colors of the uniform of C.F. Pachuca don royal blue shorts, a white shirt with 3 royal blue stripes and its logo on the upper left corner of the shirt. Its knee bands use the same color of blue, followed by white socks. Its colors for “Away” uniforms are all black, with a white logo on the upper left corner of the shirt. Its “third” colors are pink for the shirt (with a black logo on the upper left corner of the shirt, matched with black shorts.
Beyond Association Football
By 2005, Honda was already a part of the FIFA world youth championship and played against Bahrain on June 22, 2009, in the FIFA world cup. As they were in the under 23 age group, he played as a midfielder in the Beijing Olympics football competition for his team. He only got to score a goal one year later, on May 27, 2009, when they were playing in Osaka’s Nagai Stadium, in a match against Chile.
From that goal onward, Honda was called “Emperor Keisuke” as a nickname. Since he joined the Japan national football team, he’s scored 20 more goals for them. One memorable goal was when he played against Cameroon in the FIFA World Cup last 2010, where he scored a goal that won them the game. The “Man of the Match” award was given to Honda, and it was made quite a big deal because it was the first game to have ever been won by Japan, outside of Japan.
He also scored another notable kick when they were up against Denmark, listed in the final group-stage, only 17 minutes into the game. He also assisted his football mate Shinji Okazaki by pulling a Cryuff Turn, giving Japan the edge of 3-1. This also won him another “Man of the Match” award. Sadly, they lost when they went up against Paraguay.
The Asian Football Confederation – Asian Cup of 2011
Honda played against Syria in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, as he was picked by Alberto Zaccheroni, a coach. Thanks to Honda’s penalty kick, his team won the game, 2 to 1. In another game with South Korea, he scored during the penalty shoot-out. For that, he won “Man of the Match” again. He then proceeded to win the MVP award of the entire cup. His team had won for the fourth consecutive time, breaking previous records.
FIFA World Cup 2014
As teams were qualifying for the world cup, Honda injured himself and had to sit out for much of AFC World Cup’s third round. By the time the fourth round rolled over, Honda was back at it again, scoring one goal in the 11th minute as they were playing against Oman. His team ended up winning that game, 3-0. There were more games that he scored in, particularly one on June 8, 2012, against Jordan. He was also a crucial player during their game with Australia 4 days later, having assisted a goal that led his team to a tie.
Honda’s injury would continue to plague him, which forced him to miss several games. Nevertheless, during their game with Australia on June 4, 2013, he took a penalty kick and scored a goal, tying their score, leading them to vie for the World Cup that was to be held in Brazil. Japan was the first country to qualify and book for the World Cup that year.
Group C is where the Japanese team ended up. They went face to face with the Ivory Coast, Greece, and Colombia. Honda was able to score after being passed the ball from Yuto Nagatomo, giving him the title of the Japanese player with the most shots during the FIFA world cup and was also the only Japanese player who scored goals in two separate world cups. Japan revered him even more so for being the highest scorer for both FIFA cups in general, garnering 3 goals. Sadly, his team, later on, lost to Africa in the 2014 World Cup.
Last Heard: AFC Asian Cup, 2015
As the 2015 AFC Asian Cup commenced, Honda played as ruled by coach Javier Aguirre. They played against Palestine, and won the game, 4-0, with Honda placing a penalty kick. He did the same again for the following game, this time against Iraq, is the only goal for the game, winning 1-0. He scored another goal again against Jordan during his next game. During the quarter-final match against UAE (United Arab Emirates), Honda missed his kick, and Japan did not win the shootout.
Family Life and Wife of Keisuke Honda
Keisuke Honda had a very sports-oriented upbringing. Not only did he start playing for the local junior youth team of his school at only 13 years old, but it’s almost as if playing sports runs through Honda’s blood. While Honda had an older brother who also played football, Honda possesses familial ties to many in Japan’s professional sports scene.
Examples of family members in competitive sports include Daisaburo Honda, who competed as a canoeist in the Olympic held in Japan in 1964. Daisaburo Honda was the brother of Keisuke Honda’s grandfather, making Daisaburo Keisuke’s great uncle. Another family member of Honda’s in sports is Tamon Honda, who is his cousin. The 54-year old professional wrestler competed in the Olympics as well in the years 1984, 1988, and 1992.
All About FIFA, the Football Video Game
As the sport of football (both watching it and playing it) is incredibly popular among all ages and countries, it’s no surprise that there is a video game made to simulate association football. The latest installment of this video game is called “FIFA 18”. This wildly popular video game regularly releases a new version per year. Although the latest addition is branded “FIFA 18” to signify the year 2018, the game itself usually comes out the year before, thus its release date of September 29, 2017.
The game does its best to show the most accurate depiction of the stadiums – 52 licensed ones sourced from a dozen countries, and even more settings. It even provides in-game commentary, injury reports, and classified results to make it look and feel realistic as one plays. Actual football players are also included as characters that you can play, and one of them is Keisuke Honda.
Statistics for Keisuke Honda in Fifa 18 from Sofifa
Just as each player has their own weaknesses, strengths, and measures of performance, this is also reflected in the game itself. Because Keisuke is a player, he has set scores for certain skills, such as pace, passing, dribbling, etcetera. Players who are looking to buy members to add to their team usually want to consider the statistics of the football player they are looking to add.
Sofifa labels Keisuke Honda (K. Honda) as ID number 186581, stating his actual birthday, and his height – 6 feet, weighing in at 168 lbs. His legality is stated as left, with an international reputation of 3 stars, a weaker foot ability of 3 stars, and a bounty at 3 stars. His work rate is medium/high, sports a normal body type with his actual face, and has a release clause of 18.7 million euros.
For Attacking, he scores 78 in concertation, 65 in finishing, 72 in scanning accuracy, 80 in short entry, and 72 in volleys. For skill, he gets particularly high scores; 83 at Wandering, 86 at Spin, 86 again for his free kick accuracy, 82 for his long feed, and 85 for his ball control. His mentality category is balanced, with aggression and cataclysm at a low, scoring 48 and 44 respectively. The establishment is ranked at 74, vision is 81, penalty punishment is 76, and composure is 80. Out of them all, his defending ranks are the lowest, with marking at 44, tackles at 48, and slides at 48 as well.