Description
Yuto Nagatomo, born in September 12th 1986, is a professional soccer player from Ehime prefecture Saijo city. His position is wing-back and with a height of 170 cm, he is definitely not blessed in physical size, but continues to show that he has almost endless strength and stamina.
After graduating from Higashi Fukuoka High School, which was famous for its soccer team, he entered Meiji University. During the practice match against FC Tokyo he caught the attention of their team’s staff and was invited to the team as a designated player.
In 2008 he signed a formal contract with FC Tokyo without waiting to graduate from the university and started his debut season from the opening match as a starting member. He played in 29 matches that season and scored 3 goals.
Soon after he received his first invitation to join the national team, where he has secured a stable position. He also appeared in the Beijing Olympics that were held in the same year.
Unfortunately, the Japanese team lost in the group stages, but to Nagamoto playing in an international tournament was a valuable experience and the foreign teams left a strong impression on him.
During the 2010 World Cup South Africa, he played as a wing-back in left field for the entire tournament, playing from start to finish. In the match against Cameroon he completely blocked out Samuel Eto’o, thus proving that he is in no way inferior to foreign players in either strength or stamina.
His performance in this tournament caught attention and he was loaned to Serie A’s A.C. Cesena. He won the trust of manager Massimo Ficcadenti thanks to his ability to play defense on either side and was playing almost entire matches right after joining the team. Even in Europe his personality drew people towards him and he quickly earned the trust of his teammates.
In 2011 he was loaned to the veteran team Inter Milan. On the same year he scored his first goal in Serie A, appeared in the UEFA Champions League, won the Coppa Italia and gained many valuable experiences.
After that he signed a 5 year contract with Inter to play as a full member. In the 2014-2015 season he was substitute captain for the team and an indispensable player.
After the South Africa World Cup, he represented Japan in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in 6 matches from start to finish and contributed to the championship victory. However in the 2014 World Cup that was held in Brazil, the team lost in the group stages and in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup quarter finals he again tasted bitter defeat.
