In Japan, there was once a player known as the "Bad Boy" who was even banned by the Japanese football community. But the former demonic boy has now changed his mind, changed his ways, and succeeded in a foreign land. This is midfielder Yoshihiro Bangmoto, who is defending the current Korean Professional (K1 League) champions for Jeonbuk Hyundai.
Born on October 8, 1997 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Yoshihiro Bangmoto played for NEO FC, a junior soccer team in Kitakyushu, in middle school, where he was already talented. As a result of his senior high school, he was invited to join by a number of traditional Japanese football schools such as Aomori Yamada, but his choice was to join the Urawa Red Diamonds youth team. On October 16, 2013, Urawa Red Diamonds faced Yamagata Yamagata in the 3rd round of the Emperor's Cup. In the 65th minute, Yoshihiro Bangmoto came on as a substitute and bounced off the post with a left-footed long-range shot in the 11th minute after playing, breaking the team's record for the youngest player to play and the youngest goal scorer at the age of 16 and 8. The future seemed to be smooth sailing, but in September 2014, he terminated his contract with Urawa Red Diamonds and returned to his hometown of Fukuoka. Although the reason for the termination was not disclosed at that time, there was already gossip that he had violated the team rules by smoking and repeatedly persuaded him not to change, so he was expelled from Urawa.
In January 2015, Yoshihiro Bangmoto joined fukuoka Hornets, then his hometown team in The Japanese Second Division. At his joining ceremony, the manager of the team at the time said that Yoshihiro Bangben would undoubtedly become the team's center of gravity player in the future, and it was incumbent on him to sign him for japanese football, which showed the importance that the Fukuoka Hornets attached to him at that time. However, just over two years later, in May 2017, the Fukuoka Hornets announced that they had terminated their contract with Yoshihiro Bangmoto for violating the terms of the contract and the team's rules. Although the Wasp did not elaborate on what Bang Ben Yiyu committed, it only said that it was not a criminal offense, but a violation of team rules. However, the gossip at the time said that he smoked, drank and even hit his teammates, although it could not be confirmed whether it was really a thing, but after this incident, no Japanese team dared to sign Kunimoto Yiyu, and he was like being banned by Japanese football. Among The Japanese players who are known for their self-discipline, the case of Yoshihiro Kunimoto can be regarded as an outlier.
After about 7 months of "unemployment", Bang Ben Yiyu moved to South Korea in 2018 to join the then promoted Ma Qingnan FC. In Gyeongnam, he got a number of appearances, and as the main player of the team, he led the team to a league runner-up as a promotion horse, and made the team qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage for the first time. In 2019, Gyeongnam FC participated in the AFC Champions League for the first time, and it was also the first time that Bang ben Yiyu participated in this competition. In the 4th round of the group stage, Gyeongnam FC visited Kashima Antlers, which was also the first time that Yoshihiro Bangmoto returned to Japan to play after being banned by Japanese football. Perhaps it was just as heaven had it, when the game reached 63 minutes, he received a cross from his teammate, the close goal crashed into 1-0, and the match also won kashima Antlers with his goal, and he burst into tears after the game, as if tears for the past insanity, but also for the rebirth of his football career. He was able to make a transformation in two years, and he should be most grateful to the head coach of Gyeongnam at the time, Kim Jong-o, because Bang ben Yiyu was banned in Japanese football due to disciplinary problems, and as a Korean who generally did not like the Japanese, signing a "enemy" player who was abandoned due to disciplinary problems, the pressure on his back can be imagined, but Kim Jong-fu still chose to give Bang ben Yiyu a chance, and Bang ben Yiyu also repaid Kim Jong-fu's trust with performance. Although Gyeongnam failed to break through the group stage, Kunimoto's performance was still unanimously praised, including by the Japanese media. However, Gyeongnam's strength was insufficient, and he could only finish in the league under the two-line battle, and lost to the Busan idol in the play-offs, and the relegation ended, and Kim Jong-fu also left the team.
Although Gyeongnam was relegated, Bangben Yiyu's strength was recognized by the Korean football world. In 2020, he signed to join Jeonbuk Hyundai and won a main position in Jeonbuk Hyundai, winning the 2020 Korean Professional Championship for the team and defending the team in 2021. After winning two league titles for Jeonbuk, his performance began to be accepted by Japanese fans, and he expressed his hope to see him return to Japan to play in the future, and some fans spoke up for him, saying that he had changed himself and had already lost the price, because of his past mistakes and asked all Japanese football to continue to ban him.
In fact, Kunimoto Yiyu has been optimistic at the beginning of his debut, plus he is a Player of the right age for the Tokyo Olympics, and it was very likely that he would have represented the Japanese football team to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, but unfortunately he did not do anything more, missed the opportunity in vain, and paid a heavy price for this. Now he has changed his ways and concentrated on playing football in South Korea, and has not seen any news of his violation of discipline. Bang Ben Yiyu is only 24 years old now, there are still many possibilities, for the future, he said he hopes to play in Germany. If he succeeds in exodusing to Europe and continues to improve, he may one day be selected for the Japanese national team and put on the national team's jersey. Of course, in addition to his ability, this matter also requires the Japanese Football Association to lift his ban.
Yoshihiro Bangmoto's transformation from a bad boy abandoned by Japanese football to winning two league titles for his team now proves that as long as there is determination to reform, it is still possible to achieve something. The so-called knowledge of mistakes can be changed, and it is impossible to be good!