Four times champions Germany tasted a 2-1 defeat against Japan in their FIFA World Cup 2022 opener.

 Japan’s Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano scored late goals to secure the win at the Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday. 

Who is Ritsu Doan?

Ritsu Doan (born June 16, 1998) is a professional Japanese footballer, who plays as a winger for SC Freiburg, a Bundesliga club as well the Japanese national team.

Doan joined J1 League club Gamba Osaka in 2015, coming through the youth system. He made his professional debut on May 27, when he played against FC Seoul in the 2015 AFC Champions League. A week later, he played against Kashima Antlers, making him the youngest player in the club’s history to play in the J1 League. He mainly played for Gamba Osaka’s newly established team called Gamba Osaka U-23 in the J3 League in the year 2016.

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Doan was bestowed with Asian Youth Player of the Year in 2016. He displayed an impressive performance during the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2017. He netted three goals which helped Japan reach the knockout stage of the tournament.

Many European clubs showed interest in this Asian star player. In June of 2017, Doan moved to Eredivisie club FC Groningen on a loan, though provided with an option to sign a three-year contract, the option later came into effect on April 23, 2018, and later on, he was transferred to Groningen on a permanent basis, on 1 July 2018. He played a total of 66 games from their side, scoring 16 goals and seven assists.

Doan joined PSV Eindhoven on a five-year contract in 2019; his debut campaign at this club was not impressive. Later on in September 2020, he joined Bielefeld for a season-long term and proved to be one of their top scorers, securing five goals with three assists.

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Afterward, he returned to Eindhoven, scoring 11 goals across 39 appearances in Eredivisie, Dutch Cup, UEFA Europa, and Conference Leagues.

Doan returned to Bundesliga with S.C. Freiburg, as announced on July 5, 2022.