
Riku Yamane seems too young to have the top-flight experience he does. At 22, Yamane won Japan's J1 League with Kevin Muscat's Yokohama F. Marinos four years ago and has become a midfield fixture in the intervening seasons.
2026 is a historic year in Japanese football. Samurai Blue, the men's national team, were the first to qualify for World Cup 2026, which will be followed by the first J.League season in the new autumn-to-spring format.