Daichi Kamada


Daichi Kamada is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Japan national team.

Club Career

Early Career

Born in Ehime, Japan, Kamada began playing football at "Kids FC" and helped the side win TV Ehime Cup Ehime Prefectural Youth Soccer Championship U-12 when he was in 6th grade of elementary school. When Kamada was in junior high school, he then joined Gamba Osaka and was selected for the U-13 J League. However due to injuries, Kamada was let go from the club and he returned to school, joining Higashiyama Junior High School in 2012. Kamada quickly made an impact at the school, playing in the midfield position, as well as, scoring goals. He went on to make eighteen appearances and scored twenty–times at the end of the 2013 season.
In his third year at Higashiyama Junior High School, Kamata was appointed captain for the school, but they finished at the bottom of the table with 2 wins and 13 losses. Despite this, he continued to impress, having scored ten goals, making him the fourth top scorer in the 2014 season. At the end of the 2014 season, Kamada’s performance at from Higashiyama Junior High School attracted interests from at "least" five J. League clubs following his graduation. It was announced on 17 November 2014 that Kamada would be joining Sagan Tosu at the start of the 2015 season. Ahead of the 2015 season, he was given a number twenty–four shirt.

Sagan Tosu

At the start of the 2015 season, Kamada was loaned out to J.League U-22, where he made two appearances for the side. He made his Sagan Tosu debut, coming on as a 75th minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Albirex Niigata in the J.League Cup on 8 April 2015. A month later on 10 May 2015, Kamada scored his first goal on his J.League debut, having come on as a 72nd minute substitute, in a 1–1 draw against Matsumoto Yamaga. This was followed up by setting up the winning goal for Yohei Toyoda to help Sagan Tosu win 1–0. His first five appearance of the 2015 season earned him awarded New Hero Awards of the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup. He then set up two goals, in a 3–2 win against Kashiwa Reysol on 11 July 2015. Eleven days later on 22 July 2015, Kamada scored his second goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Gamba Osaka. Four weeks later on 16 August 2015, he scored his third goal of the season, in a 3–1 win against Matsumoto Yamaga. Having started out on the substitute bench, Kamada became a first team regular for the side, playing in the midfield position. Despite suffering an injury later in the 2015 season, he went on make twenty–eight appearances and scoring three times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2016 season, Kamada signed a contract with the club. At the start of the 2016 season, Kamada continued to regain his first team place, playing in the midfield position for the first seven matches. He also contributed two assists in two matches between 2 April 2016 and 6 April 2016 against Kashiwa Reysol and Vegalta Sendai. Kamada, once again, awarded New Hero Awards of the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup. However during a match against Yokohama F. Marinos on 20 April 2016, he suffered an elbow injury and was substituted as a result.Following this, it was announced on 22 April 2016 that Kamada was out for two weeks. It wasn’t until on 13 May 2016 when he returned to the starting line–up against FC Tokyo and played 55 minutes before being substituted, in a 0–0 draw. A month later on 18 June 2016, Kamada scored his first goals of the season, in a 2–1 win against Gamba Osaka. The following month saw him add two more goals for the side. He then added his fifth goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Júbilo Iwata on 20 August 2016, and scored two weeks later on 3 September 2016 against FC Ryukyu. Since returning to the first team from injury, he regained his first team place for the rest of the 2016 season. Kamada then scored twice once again, in a 3–2 win against Kashiwa Reysol on 22 October 2016. His goal against the club earned him J League Goal of the Month for October. At the end of the 2016 season, he made thirty–four appearances and scoring eight times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2017 season, Kamada switched number shirt from twenty–four to seven. Kamada also signed a contract extension with the club. At the start of the 2017 season, Kamada continued to regain his first team place, playing in the midfield position. It wasn’t until on 1 April 2017 when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–3 draw against FC Tokyo. This was followed up by setting up the club’s third goal of the game, in a 3–0 win against Albirex Niigata. Two weeks later on 26 April 2017, Kamada scored twice for the side, in a 4–4 draw against Cerezo Osaka in the J.League Cup. He later scored two more goals, scoring against Yokohama F. Marinos and Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. His performance against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo earned him Team of the Week. He made his last appearance of the season against Urawa Red Diamonds on 25 June 2017 and set up the club’s first goal of the game, winning 2–1. In the first half of the 2017 season, Kamada made 16 appearances for J.League side Sagan Tosu, scoring 3 goals.

Eintracht Frankfurt

In June 2017, Kamada joined Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, signing a four-year contract running until 2021. The transfer fee was reported as €2.5 million.
Kamada made his Eintracht Frankfurt debut in the first round of the DFB–Pokal, starting a match and played 73 minutes before being substituted, in a 3–0 win against TuS Erndtebrück. In a follow–up match against SC Freiburg, he made his league debut for the club, starting a match and played 67 minutes before being substituted, in a 0–0 draw. However, Kamada found his first team opportunities at Eintracht Frankfurt, due to competitions and his own injury concern. Manager Niko Kovač said about his progress, saying: "Another reason for Daichi was that he is extraordinarily good in terms of ball technique and that he is very good in the gaps, which the opponent cannot really control moves. Unfortunately he got off a little bit badly because he was pushed away from time to time. You have to give him the time, he'll get that too." At the end of the 2017–18 season, he made four appearances in all competitions.
’s Round of 32 match against Red Bull Salzburg.
Since the start of the 2019–20 season, Kamada returned from a loan spell at Sint-Truiden and quickly became a first team regular for Eintracht Frankfurt, playing as a "second striker". He then scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–3 win against Waldhof Mannheim in the first round of the DFB–Pokal. Kamada played in both legs of the UEFA Europa League Play–Off Round against RC Strasbourg, as he helped the side win 3–1 on aggregate to send them through to the Group Stage. Manager Adi Hütter praised his performance, stating that Kamada has matured and presented himself differently. He then set up two goals in two matches between 24 October 2019 and 27 October 2019 against Standard Liège and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Kamada then scored a brace, in a 2–1 win against Arsenal in the UEFA Europa League match on 28 November 2019. After the match, Manager Hütter, once again, praised his performance. His fourth goal of the season then came on 12 December 2019, in a 3–2 win against Vitória. However, at the beginning of 2020, Kamada suffered a torn ligament that kept him out throughout January. It wasn’t until on 1 February 2020 that he returned to the starting line–up and played 45 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–1 draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf. Following this, Kamada appeared in the next matches as an unused substitute before returning to the starting line–up against Red Bull Salzburg in the second leg of UEFA Europa League’s Round of 32 match and scored a hat–trick, in a 4–1 win. The club went on to progress to the next round of the UEFA Europa League following a 2–2 draw in the second leg. A week later on 4 March 2020, he scored his eighth goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Werder Bremen in the quarter–finals of the DFB–Pokal. Two months later on 26 May 2020, Kamada scored his ninth goal of the season, as well as, setting up the club’s first goal of the game, in a 3–3 draw against SC Freiburg. This was followed up by scoring in a 2–1 win against VfL Wolfsburg. He later contributed for Eintracht Frankfurt, setting up two goals in two matches between 13 June 2020 and 17 June 2020, winning both matches against Hertha BSC and Schalke 04. Despite the season was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kamada went on to make forty–seven appearances and scoring sixteen times in all competitions, making him the club’s top scorer at the end of the 2019–20 season. Following this, the club began talks with Kamada over a new contract.

Sint-Truiden (loan)

In order to receive first team football, Kamada was loaned out to Belgian side Sint-Truiden for the rest of the 2018–19 season on 1 September 2018.
Kamada quickly made an impact for the club when he scored on his debut, in a 2–1 win against Gent on 16 September 2018. This was followed up by scoring in a 2–0 win against Royal Antwerp. Since making his debut for Sint-Truiden, Kamada quickly established himself in the first team, playing in either midfielder and striker positions. He then scored three consecutive goals in three matches between 6 October 2018 and 27 October 2018 against Royal Excel Mouscron, K.V. Kortrijk and Club Brugge. Kamada then scored four goals in three matches between 4 November 2018 and 25 November 2018, including a brace against Eupen on 10 November 2018. He, once again, scored two goals in two matches between 5 December 2018 and 8 December 2018 against Standard Liège and KFC Mandel United. In the Group A league play–offs, Kamada later scored three goals, including a brace, in a 2–2 draw against Westerlo on 6 April 2019. At the end of the 2018–19 season, he went on to make thirty–six appearances and sixteen times in all competitions.

International Career

Having previously called up to the Japan’s youth team for the rest of 2015, Yamada was called up to the U21 squad the following year. He went on to make two appearances for the U21 side.
In March 2016, Yamada was called up to the Japan U23 squad for the first time. He made his Japan U23 debut, coming on as a 65th minute substitute, in a 2–1 win against Mexico U23 on 25 March 2016. Yamada made his first starts for the Japan U23 side, and played 64 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–1 win against Guinea U23 on 25 May 2016. Yamada went on to make four appearances for Japan U23, with two other matches he featured were substitute.
Having previously failed to make a cut to the Japanese squad for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, it was announced on 15 March 2019, Kamada was called up to the Japan squad for the first time. He made his debut for the Japan national football team on 22 March 2019 in a friendly against Colombia, as a 79th-minute substitute for Takumi Minamino. Kamada then scored his first Japan goal, in a 6–0 win against Mongolia on 10 October 2019.

Career statistics

Club

National team statistics

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.10 October 2019Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan6–06–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Personal Life

His father, Fukushige, was once a footballer and worked for the seniors and juniors at Osaka University of Physical Education. Because of his father’s guidance, Kamada was able to work hard and learned how to use his body, enabling him to go back and forth between the attacking third and middle thirds, and the number of pass variations increased. He has a younger brother, Daime Kamata, who’s also a footballer. In his free time, Kamada said he’s learning German and reads manga.
At one point, Kamada was considering going to university, saying: "Going to college may be a necessary path for me, but I still have a feeling that I can't give up. If I join a professional after graduating from college, I'm already 22 years old. However, I thought it would be very late to become a professional at the age of 22. For me, it is ideal that I go to the J League from high school and start from the first year, and I think I should do that. And I'm thinking about the future of the J League. I've always had a dream to go out into the world and play. I don't appreciate it, but I have enough confidence to do it." Growing up, Kamada said he wanted to be a footballer. On 25 May 2017, Kamada announced his marriage to a general woman and together, they have a son. Since moving to Eintracht Frankfurt, he resided in the city with his family.