Ryotaro Araki

Ryotaro Araki (荒木 遼太郎) is a Japanese footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and as a forward for the club FC Tokyo, on loan from Kashima Antlers.

Youth career
Beginning his career at his hometown club Roasso Kumamoto in their junior youth section, he went on to attend Higashi Fukuoka High School. In 2018, he represented Japan U16 in the AFC U16 Championship. In Japan's first game in the tournament, he won the man of the match award after scoring two goals in a 5-2 win over Thailand. Japan went on to win the tournament, with Araki appearing in every game except for the semi-final. In his second year at Higashi Fukuoka HS, he was handed the number 10 shirt and was made captain of the team. Over two seasons, Araki made 30 appearances for the school scoring 10 goals across the Prince Takamado Cup, the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament, and the "Inter-High".

Club career
In October 2019, it was announced that Araki would join Kashima Antlers for the 2020 season, after graduating from Higashi Fukuoka High School. He made his debut for Kashima Antlers on 23 February 2020, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 league defeat to Sanfrecce Hiroshima. He scored his first professional goal later on that season, scoring a 94th minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Vissel Kobe. He made 29 appearances in his debut season aged just 18 years old, and scored two league goals during the 2020 season. He improved his already impressive form in his second season, with almost 3000 minutes in 46 appearances across all competitions. In the 2021 J1 League, he scored 10 league goals and made 6 assists, totalling 16 goal contributions; the fifth most goal contributions in the league. He also was the first under-20 player to score a double-digit number of goals since Shoji Jo in 1994. His performances throughout the season rewarded him the J.League Rookie of the Year award.

In the following two seasons, Araki struggled for game time due to injuries (including a herniated disk) and only made 26 league appearances in 2022 and 2023. In December 2023, he moved on loan to FC Tokyo for the 2024 season.

For FC Tokyo, he instantly became a starter since the opening round of the 2024 J1 League. In his debut against Cerezo Osaka on 24 February 2024, he scored a brace, followed by two more goals in his three next matches. Following his good form, he received a call-up U-23s for friendlies against Mali and Ukraine at the end of March, which happened in the international break. He did not featured in the match against Mali, but started against Ukraine, playing until the 66th minute.

Playing between the lines either as an attacking midfielder or a second-striker, Araki had already scored five goals in his first six appearances. Go Oiwa, then, called-up Araki to represent Japan at the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. Starting three of the five matches he played, he scored a goal and gave two assists. His only goal came in the 2–0 win over Iraq, which qualified Japan for the 2024 Olympic Games. The last of his two assists at the tournament came in the last ten minutes of the match, as he assisted Fuki Yamada to score the winning goal in the 1–0 win at the Final against Uzbekistan. Araki continued to play the match despite suffering a collision with Uzbek goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov in the 76th minute, which after the match was confirmed to provoke a concussion on Araki.

Club
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Honors
Japan U16
 * AFC U-16 Championship: 2018

Japan U23
 * AFC U-23 Asian Cup: 2024

Individual
 * J.League Rookie of the Year: 2021