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The story
Freiburg’s Japan international forward Goto Keisuke scored his first Bundesliga goal in the home match against Schalke. With teammate Suzuki Yuito sent off and the team down to ten men, Goto came on as a second-half substitute and headed in the winner, lifting Freiburg to the top of the table. For Goto — who had yet to score in the league in his first season with the club — it was a goal worth its weight in gold. On 5ch, while the play itself drew praise, the conversation quickly turned to his hair color and hairstyle, before branching out into debates over his use with the national team and the struggles of Japanese players who’ve moved to Belgium.
◇Bundesliga: Freiburg 2-1 Schalke (October 11, 2026, Freiburg)
Freiburg’s Japan international forward Goto Keisuke scored his first goal in Germany’s top flight. In the home match against Schalke, with midfielder Suzuki Yuito sent off and the team forced to play with ten men, Goto entered in the 24th minute of the second half, then with the score tied 1-1 in the 40th minute of the second half, he met a left-footed cross with his head to score the winning goal and lift his team to the top of the table.
In his first season with the club, Goto had seen limited minutes across four appearances and had yet to score in the league, but with the team in trouble after Suzuki’s red card, his precious first goal delivered a crucial three points.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Suzuki's a lost cause for the national team
He was doing great under Oiwa's squad, so he'll be fine
For now his style is: tall but can't hold the ball up at all
More the scrappy, grind-it-out type who just gets goals
I'm gonna end up mixing him up with Ogawa Koki
But topping the table ahead of Bayern and Dortmund?! What is even happening
Don't remember a single one of them
Just means Moriyasu sucks at using him
Freiburg's golden age
1st Freiburg 4W-1D
2nd Dortmund 4W-1D
3rd Bayern 3W-2D
4th Leverkusen 3W-1D-1L
5th Leipzig 3W-2L
Sorry man, that's the gap between Japan and Korea in football
But man, Moriyasu really doesn't know how to use him
Well, Japan barely ever puts in crosses anyway
His hair stands out so much that's probably why they keep crossing it to him
Meanwhile the OTHER promising youngster, Takai, can't even cut it in Belgium lol
Would love to see his run before the cross came in too
https://x.com/GoalJP_Official/status/2109335260911870308
That's a clean header
But seriously, what is going on with that hair color…
lol that hair color
Nice header though
If Goto had been around during Zac Japan's sudden power-play tactics, maybe it actually would've worked
No chance
Even when told to go full power-play, Lord Honda was out there just circulating short passes
I still remember being stunned watching Lord Honda start a short corner and pass it around with time running out and the team desperate for a goal
You do need height for hold-up play though
Sint-Truiden definitely needs reinforcements if things stay like this
Sint-Truiden's at the point where about half their Japanese players should just be cut
They're only playing because of injuries but they're contributing nothing
Shinkawa, Araki, and Matsuzawa are must-cuts, and Ishiwata's in trouble too
Takai's only played one game so there's still time to reassess, but wow, what a terrible debut
It's basically the Tough Man haircut (a Japanese energy drink known for its mascot's distinctive look)
He's 191cm?
That's bigger than Ogawa Koki or Ueda among Japan's national team forwards
He's not actually that good at headers or hold-up play
He used to be a defensive midfielder after all
Though he got scolded once for celebrating too much against a team that holds his registration
Background and talking points
Freiburg sit alone at the top of the table with 4 wins and 1 draw from the opening matches, ahead of both Bayern and Dortmund. Goto, in his first season at the club, had gone scoreless in the league, but this time he came off the bench and scored the winner with a header. It mattered all the more because the goal came after teammate Suzuki Yuito was sent off, leaving the team down to ten men. What split opinion in the thread wasn’t the quality of the play itself — that was largely praised — but everything around it: jokes about his hair color and hairstyle dominated the discussion, while other posters vented frustration over his usage with the national team and Moriyasu’s management, and the conversation spread into the struggles of the Japanese contingent in Belgium (Shinkawa, Araki, Matsuzawa, Ishiwata, Takai, and others), broadening from Goto himself into a wider debate about Japanese players abroad. One easily-missed point: Goto actually came up as a defensive midfielder and isn’t primarily known for heading or hold-up play — his 191cm height mainly comes into play on crosses and set pieces.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Japan NT forward Goto Keisuke (Freiburg) scores first Bundesliga goal! Lifts team to the top with a match-winning header! Saves the day after Suzuki’s red card“.
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