Koki Anzai

Anzai is small in stature, but is known as a player that possesses a lot of speed and stamina, with a good dribbling ability. A right-footed player, he can play in either the right-back or left-back position, but his attacking instincts often mean he plays more like a wing-back.

After a solid start to the 2019 season for Kashima Antlers, Anzai was called up to represent the Japan national team by manager Hajime Moriyasu, in the absence of regular full-backs Yuto Nagatomo and Hiroki Sakai. He made his debut on 22 March 2019 in a friendly as part of the Kirin Cup against Colombia, as an 89th-minute substitute for Sho Sasaki. Days later on 26 March, Anzai made his first start for Japan in a 1–0 friendly win against Bolivia, playing 73 minutes before being substituted. Anzai said that he perhaps didn't play to his best in the game against Bolivia, but the experience of training for 10 days with the national team and a taste of international football was exciting and would provide room for growth. Anzai was then left out of the squad that competed in the 2019 Copa América in June 2019, with Daiki Sugioka and Tomoki Iwata taking the starting full-back positions. He was however recalled for the following game – a continuation of the Kirin Cup and a 2–0 win over Paraguay. Anzai came on as a 67th-minute substitute for Yuto Nagatomo. In October 2019, Anzai made his first competitive international appearance, coming on as a second-half substitute for Hiroki Sakai in a 6–0 win over Mongolia in a 2022 World Cup Qualifying game. Unfortunately, he was then not picked for any of the remaining qualifiers at the end of 2019, nor the EAFF E-1 Football Championship. His next cap came in a 0–0 friendly draw with Cameroon in October 2020, although his inclusion was in…

Born in Hyōgo, Anzai started playing football from an early age – beginning as a midfield player in elementary and junior high school, but converting to a full-back in his first year of high school. Whilst at Tozuka-higashi Elementary School, he played youth football firstly for Tozuka FC Juniors in Kawaguchi, Saitama and then moved through the youth ranks of Tokyo Verdy whilst at Meguro Nihon University High School. Despite being small in stature, Anzai was given confidence by Verdy's youth coach Satoshi Tsunami that he would become a professional player and encouraged him to continue in their youth ranks rather than play high school football. Anzai made 48 appearances for Tokyo Verdy's youth teams from 2011 to 2013 in both the Prince Takamado Trophy and the Japan Club Youth Cup – making his U18 debut at just 15 years old.

Tokyo Verdy

In 2014, aged 19, Anzai was promoted to Tokyo Verdy's first team squad, taking the number 34 shirt. He made his debut in a 3–1 J2 League defeat to Matsumoto Yamaga in the first league game of the 2014 season, where he played the full 90 minutes. In May 2014, Anzai scored his first professional goal in a 1–0 league victory over Kamatamare Sanuki. Anzai made more appearances than any of his teammates in his debut season, playing all but one league game including 34 starts and playing over 3000 minutes of football. Verdy however did not have a successful season and finished in 20th out of 22 teams, narrowly avoiding the relegation playoff game. For the 2015 season, Anzai was given the number 2 shirt at Tokyo Verdy, highlighting his prominence in the first-team squad. In pre-season, Anzai visited English Premier League club West Ham as part of a week long training camp, where he met the likes of Andy Carroll, Alex Song and Mark Noble. Playing alongside such players, Anzai said that he felt the biggest difference was the physicality of the game in England and started more strength training on his return to Japan. He went on to make 35 league appearances in the 2015 season, helping Verdy to a much improved 8th-placed finish in the J2 League. Tokyo Verdy continued to be inconsistent performers in the league, finishing the 2016 season in 18th place and the 2017 in the play-off places, where they were beaten at the semi-final stage by Avispa Fukuoka. Anzai…