is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

and the

Japan women's national football team Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She previously played for Japanese club Cerezo Osaka Sakai and

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

club Washington Spirit.

Early life

Takarada was born in

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

on 27 December 1999.

Club career

Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies

In 2013, Takarada joined

Nadeshiko League The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football Sports league, league in Japan. The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese association football ...

club Cerezo Osaka Sakai. She scored 44 goals in 110 appearances for the club and helped the club gain promotion to the top flight of the

in 2019. During the 2019 season, Takarada scored 2 goals in 18 appearances for Cerezo and helped the team to a fourth-place finish. She played both as a

and as a

for Cerezo.

Washington Spirit

On 1 December 2020, Takarada signed a contract with the Washington Spirit for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Her Japanese national team teammate Kumi Yokoyama signed with the Spirit in 2019. Takarada reported to the Spirit's preseason training camp in February 2021.

Linköping FC

On January 6, 2022, it was announced that Takarada would transfer to Damalsvenskan club

Linköping FC Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

International career

Youth

In 2016, Takarada was named to the Japan U-17 national team roster for the 2016 U-17 World Cup. She played in 5 matches and scored 2 goals, helping Japan to a 2nd place finish. In 2018, Takarada played for the Japan U-20 national team at the 2018 U-20 World Cup. She played in all 6 matches and scored 5 goals and recorded 3 assists. Takarada scored the game-winning goal for Japan in the tournament final against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, leading Japan to the championship. She earned the Silver Ball and Bronze Boot for her performance in the tournament. Takarada also won the 2018 Asian Young Footballer of the Year award in 2018.

Senior

Takarada was named to the Japanese national team for the 2019 World Cup after Riko Ueki withdrew due to injury in May 2019. She served as a substitute for Japan during the World Cup, appearing in three of Japan's four games.

Career statistics

International

http://www.jfa.jp/eng/nadeshikojapan/member/takarada_saori.html :''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Takarada goal.''

Honours

Cereza Osaka Sakai * Nadeshiko League Cup Division 2: 2017, 2019 Japan *

EAFF E-1 Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

: 2022 Japan U20 *

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

: 2018 *

AFC U-19 Women's Championship The AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup is an association football tournament for women's national teams under the age of 20, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is organised by the Asian Football Confederation every two years, and serv ...

: 2017 Japan U17 * FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: 2016 *

AFC U-16 Women's Championship The AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, founded as the AFC U-17 Women's Championship and later the AFC U-16 Women's Championship, before changing to its current name after the 2019 edition, is a biennial women's association football, women's football tourn ...

: 2015 Individual * Silver Ball, 2018 U-20 World Cup * Bronze Boot, 2018 U-20 World Cup * Asian Young Footballer of the Year: 2018

References

External links

* *
Japan Football Association profileWashington Spirit profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Takarada, Saori 1999 births Living people Osaka Ohtani University alumni Association football people from Toyama Prefecture Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies players Women's association football forwards 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Washington Spirit players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Japan National Women's Soccer League players