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Cerezo Osaka
セレッソ大阪
Cerezo Osaka logo.svg
Full name Cerezo Osaka
Nickname(s) Sakura (cherry blossoms)
Founded 1957; 67 years ago (1957) as Yanmar Diesel SC
Stadium Yodoko Sakura Stadium
Stadium
capacity
24,481
Owner Yanmar
Chairman Hiroaki Morishima
Head coach Akio Kogiku
League J1 League
2022 J1 League, 5th of 18

Cerezo Osaka (セレッソ大阪, Seresso Ōsaka) is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name Cerezo (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka. The official hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. They form a local rivalry with Suita-based Gamba Osaka.

History

The club, originally called Yanmar Diesel, started in 1957 as the company team of Yanmar and was an original founder ("Original Eight") of the now-disbanded Japan Soccer League (JSL) in 1965. With four Japanese league titles to its credit, it was a mainstay of the JSL Division 1 until 1990 when it was first relegated, and joined the former Japan Football League (JFL) in 1992.

In 1993, the club incorporated as Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. and adopted the name Cerezo after a public contest. In 1994, they won the JFL championship and was promoted to the J1 League in 1995. This also coincided with a run to the finals of the Emperor's Cup, which they lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka.

Cerezo has relegated from J1 to J2 three times, but are currently playing in the J1 league. The club had an impressive third-place finish in the 2017 season.

On 4 November 2017 they won the J.League YBC Levain Cup, the first major title for Cerezo Osaka. The final match was against Kawasaki Frontale.

On 1 January 2018, Cerezo Osaka won the Emperor's Cup, securing their second major title. The final match was against Yokohama F. Marinos.

On 10 February 2018, they won the Xerox Super Cup, playing against Kawasaki Frontale.

In May 2018, the club changed its incorporated name from Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. to Cerezo Osaka Co., Ltd.

In 2022, the club got close to winning the J.League Cup for their second title, but blew a 1-0 lead to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in injury time after player Pieros Sotiriou scored two goals in the 96th and 101st minutes of the match to give the Violas the J.League Cup.

Stadiums

The hometowns of the club are Osaka and Sakai. The club plays at the Yodoko Sakura Stadium, with some bigger matches played at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai.

The club practices at Minami Tsumori Sakura Sports Park, Maishima Sports Island and Amagasaki Yanmar Diesel Ground.

Mascots

The club's mascots are a wolf named Lobby (from Spanish lobo, meaning wolf) and Madame Lobina, Lobby's mother. On February 22, 2020, host and TV personality Roland was appointed Cerezo's "Official CereMan".

Rivalries

Cerezo's biggest rival is fellow Osaka club Gamba Osaka. The matches played between Cerezo and Gamba are referred to as the Osaka derby.

Kits and colours

Cerezo's club colour is pink, like the cherry blossoms that the club's name is based on. Combination colours have been navy blue and black. This year, the uniform colour is pink (home) and white (away) for the outfield players and black (home), pink (away) and green for the goalkeepers.

During the Yanmar Diesel days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the uniform was all-red reminiscent of Deportivo Toluca.

Colours, sponsors and kit makers

Season(s) Main Shirt Sponsor Collarbone Sponsor(s) Additional Sponsor(s) Kit Manufacturer
2018 Yanmar - - Nippon Ham Singha Kincho Nakabayashi - Puma
2019 Sharp
2020 - /
Danish
2021 Yodogawa Steel Works -
2022 Yodogawa Steel Works Nikkon Holdings - /
Capcom
2023 Capcom -
2024

Kit evolution

League and cup record

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
League J.League
Cup
Emperor's
Cup
ACL
Season Div. Teams Pos. P W(OTW/PKW) D L(OTL/PKL) F A GD Pts Attendance/G
1995 J1 14 8th 52 25(0/0) - 11(0/2) 43 44 -1 41 12,097 2nd round
1996 16 13th 30 10 - 20 38 56 -18 30 8,229 Group stage Round of 16
1997 17 11th 32 13(1/2) - 10(5/1) 53 56 -3 43 9,153 Group stage Round of 16
1998 18 9th 34 14(1/0) - 17(1/1) 56 79 -23 44 9,864 Group stage 3rd round
1999 16 6th 30 15(4/0) - 10(1/0) 64 45 19 53 10,216 2nd round Round of 16
2000 16 5th 30 14(3/0) - 11(2/0) 54 49 5 48 13,548 2nd round Quarter-finals
2001 16 16th 30 5(3/0) 2 18(0/0) 41 70 -29 21 11,857 1st round Runners-up
2002 J2 12 2nd 44 25 12 7 93 53 40 87 7,952 Not eligible Round of 16
2003 J1 16 9th 30 12 4 14 55 56 -1 40 13,854 Group stage Runners-up
2004 16 15th 30 6 8 16 42 64 -22 26 14,323 Group stage 4th round
2005 18 5th 34 16 11 7 48 40 8 59 17,648 Quarter-finals Semi-finals
2006 18 17th 34 6 9 19 44 70 -26 27 13,026 Quarter-finals 4th round
2007 J2 13 5th 48 24 8 16 72 55 17 80 6,627 Not eligible 4th round
2008 15 4th 42 21 6 15 81 60 21 69 10,554 4th round
2009 18 2nd 51 31 11 9 100 53 47 104 9,912 2nd round
2010 J1 18 3rd 34 17 10 7 51 31 20 61 15,026 Group stage Round of 16
2011 18 12th 34 11 10 13 67 53 14 43 14,145 Quarter final Semi-finals Quarter-finals
2012 18 14th 34 11 9 14 47 53 -6 42 16,815 Quarter-finals Quarter-finals
2013 18 4th 34 16 11 7 53 32 21 59 18,819 Quarter-finals Round of 16
2014 18 17th 34 7 10 17 36 48 -12 31 21,627 Quarter-finals Quarter-finals Round of 16
2015 J2 22 4th 42 18 13 11 57 40 17 67 12,232 Not eligible 1st round
2016 22 4th 42 23 9 10 62 46 16 78 12,509 3rd round
2017 J1 18 3rd 34 19 6 9 64 43 22 63 20,970 Winner Winner
2018 18 7th 34 13 11 10 39 38 1 50 18,542 Quarter final Round of 16 Group stage
2019 18 5th 34 18 5 11 39 29 14 59 21,518 Play-offs Round of 16
2020 18 4th 34 18 6 10 46 37 9 60 7,014 Quarter final Did not qualify
2021 20 12th 38 13 9 16 47 51 -4 48 5,351 Runners up Semi-finals Round of 16
2022 18 5th 34 13 12 9 46 40 6 51 11,427 Runners up Quarter-finals
2023 18 9th 34 15 4 15 39 34 5 49 17,074 Group stage Round of 16
2024 20 TBA 38
Key
*Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
  • Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
  • 2020 & 2021 seasons attendances reduced due to COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
  • Source: J.League Data Site

League history

Current squad

No. Position Player
1 South Korea GK Yang Han-been
2 Japan DF Seiya Maikuma (vice-captain)
3 Japan DF Ryosuke Shindo (vice-captain)
4 Japan MF Yuichi Hirano
5 Japan MF Hinata Kida
6 Japan DF Kyohei Noborizato
7 Japan MF Satoki Uejo
8 Japan MF Shinji Kagawa
9 Brazil FW Léo Ceará (vice-captain)
10 Japan MF Shunta Tanaka
11 Belgium MF Jordy Croux
13 Japan MF Hiroshi Kiyotake
14 Japan DF Kakeru Funaki
16 Japan DF Hayato Okuda
17 Japan MF Reiya Sakata
19 Japan MF Hirotaka Tameda
21 South Korea GK Kim Jin-hyeon
No. Position Player
23 Japan DF Tatsuya Yamashita (captain)
24 Japan DF Koji Toriumi
25 Japan MF Hiroaki Okuno
27 Brazil MF Capixaba
28 Indonesia DF Justin Hubner (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
31 Japan GK Keisuke Shimizu
32 Japan FW Shinnosuke Kinoshita
33 Japan DF Ryuya Nishio (vice-captain)
34 Japan FW Hiroto Yamada
35 Japan FW Ryo Watanabe
38 Japan FW Sota Kitano
45 Japan GK Ken Isibor Type 2
47 Japan FW Kengo Furuyama DSP
48 Japan MF Masaya Shibayama
55 Brazil FW Vitor Bueno
77 Brazil MF Lucas Fernandes

Out on loan

No. Position Player
Japan MF Jun Nishikawa (on loan to Japan Iwaki FC)
Japan MF Kosei Okazawa (on loan to Japan FC Ryukyu)
Japan MF Motohiko Nakajima (on loan to JapanVegalta Sendai)
No. Position Player
Japan MF Nagi Matsumoto (on loan to JapanMontedio Yamagata)
Japan MF Nelson Ishiwatari (on loan to Japan Ehime FC)
Japan MF Rui Osako (on loan to Japan Iwaki FC)

Honours

As both Yanmar Diesel (1957–1993) and Cerezo Osaka (1993–present)

League

  • Japan Soccer League (first tier)
    • Winners (4): 1971, 1974, 1975, 1980
  • Japan Football League (second tier)
    • Winners (1): 1994 (as the company team)

Cups

  • JSL Cup/J.League Cup
    • Winners (4): 1973 (shared), 1983, 1984, 2017
  • Emperor's Cup
    • Winners (4): 1968, 1970, 1974, 2017
  • Japanese Super Cup
    • Winners (1): 2018
  • Queen's Cup
    • Winners (1): 1976

Continental record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2011 AFC Champions League Group G Indonesia Arema FC Malang 2–1 4–0 2nd
China Shandong Luneng Taishan 4–0 0–2
South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–0 0–1
Round of 16 Japan Gamba Osaka 1–0
Quarter-finals South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 4–3 1–6 5–9
2014 Group F South Korea Pohang Steelers 0–2 1–1 2nd
China Shandong Taishan 1–3 2–1
Thailand Buriram United 4–0 2–2
Round of 16 China Guangzhou 1–5 1–0 2–5
2018 Group G South Korea Jeju United 2–1 1–0 3rd
China Guangzhou 0–0 1–3
Thailand Buriram United 2–2 0–2
2021 Play-off round Australia Melbourne City Cancelled
Group J China Guangzhou 5–0 2–0 1st
Hong Kong Kitchee 2–1 0–0
Thailand Port 1–1 3–0
Round of 16 South Korea Pohang Steelers 0–1

Club officials

For the 2024 season.

Position Staff
Head coach Japan Akio Kogiku
Assistant head coach Japan Daisuke Takahashi
First team coach Japan Mitsumasa Kosugi
Japan Kota Fujimoto
Goalkeeping coach Japan Nobuhiro Takeda
Physical coach Japan Sho Watanabe
Japan Atsuhiro Furuta
Performance coach Japan Yusuke Fukuhara
Trainer Japan Koji Hanaki
Japan Haruki Wada
Physiotherapist Japan Atsushi Kitaura
Japan Akihiro Sasaki
Interpreter Japan Tonaki Yozen Jackson
Japan Kento Koike
Japan Takanori Shirasawa
Chief manager Japan Atsushi Imanishi
Manager Japan Shoki Kokawa
South Korea Lee Sung-in
Kitman Japan Tomoharu Nagahisa

Manager history

Manager Nationality Tenure
From To
Paulo Emilio  Brazil 1 January 1994 31 December 1995
Hiroshi Sowa  Japan 1 January 1996 31 December 1996
Levir Culpi  Brazil 1 February 1997 31 December 1997
Yasutaro Matsuki  Japan 1 January 1998 31 December 1999
René Desaeyere  Belgium 1 February 1999 31 January 2000
Hiroshi Soejima  Japan 1 February 2000 19 August 2001
João Carlos  Brazil 20 August 2001 4 November 2001
Akihiro Nishimura  Japan 5 November 2001 6 October 2003
Yuji Tsukada  Japan 7 October 2003 1 January 2004
Petar Nadoveza  Croatia 2 January 2004 1 February 2004
Fuad Muzurović  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 February 2004 22 March 2004
Albert Pobor  Croatia 23 March 2004 28 June 2004
Shinji Kobayashi  Japan 1 July 2004 17 April 2006
Yuji Tsukada  Japan 18 April 2006 31 December 2006
Satoshi Tsunami  Japan 1 January 2007 7 May 2007
Levir Culpi  Brazil 8 May 2007 31 December 2011
Sérgio Soares  Brazil 1 January 2012 26 August 2012
Levir Culpi  Brazil 27 August 2012 11 December 2013
Ranko Popović  Serbia 1 January 2014 9 June 2014
Marco Pezzaiuoli  Germany 16 June 2014 8 September 2014
Yuji Okuma  Japan 8 September 2014 16 December 2014
Paulo Autuori  Brazil 1 January 2015 17 November 2015
Kiyoshi Okuma  Japan 17 November 2015 31 January 2017
Yoon Jong-hwan  South Korea 1 February 2017 31 December 2018
Miguel Ángel Lotina  Spain 1 February 2019 31 January 2021
Levir Culpi  Brazil 1 February 2021 26 August 2021
Akio Kogiku  Japan 26 August 2021 present

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cerezo Osaka para niños

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