May 12th, 2012 – it’s a cloudy day in Hiroshima. The season has started from a couple of months, but Sanfrecce have powered their way into third place, although Yokohama F. Marinos are a tough opponents. Indeed, the guests will take all three points, with goals by Marquinhos, Manabu Saito, and Seitaro Tomisawa. But the headlines were not taken by the away victory.
In all clips going around the world, the first goal by Sanfrecce Hiroshima is the subject. And it’s like that for a specific reason – it’s an otherworldly goal. The player who scored is a holding midfielder, who back then was 26 years old, with not so many sparkles in his career, although he’s been with Sanfrecce since the start of his pro career, which took place in 2004.
Ryota Moriwaki unadvertedly gives him the ball on a transition, and people are ready to see Sanfrecce going up the field, but the man in question has a different idea. Why not shooting? It’s 60 meters away, way behind the halfway line, but the no. 6 from the home side has seen the keeper out of this place. So he tries – and if you look at the replay, goalkeeper Hiroki Iikura isn’t too convinced on running back quickly to the goal.
That can’t be, right? It’s impossible to score from there, right? No, it is possible. Because Toshihiro Aoyama probably spent his whole career turning the impossible into normality, and the normality into the impossible constancy he showed in his career. That goal, by the way, became the Best Goal of the 30th anniversary of the J.League. But that won’t be the only accolade from Aoyama’s career.
The Bandiera
Kurashiki, Okayama – a town of more than 400,000 people, one of the biggest of the Prefecture. But is it possible to get to this point from there? Okayama wasn’t a relevant place for the country’s sports landscape – look at Fagiano, they got their first J1 season only in 2025. Kurashiki is also home of Mitsubishi Mizushima FC, a small club in the Chugoku Soccer League, but making it to the big boys… that was a challenge.
Aoyama took it and joined Sanfrecce Hiroshima back in 2004, when the club had a very different status compared to now. Back then, the club had already a first relegation to J2 and didn’t win anything. The man who changed the trajectory of Aoyama – who scored in his first game ever for Sanfrecce, but basically didn’t play that much – was indeed Mihailo Petrović, the man behind the renaissance of the club.
Aoyama witnessed this rise, then was a key-piece for Hajime Moriyasu and the three J1 titles in four years – the no. 6 scored also the decisive goal to open the game that granted Sanfrecce the first title back in 2012. But Aoyama was still a relevant player for the Hiroshi Jofuku times, and Michael Skibbe kept him around because the German head coach knew deep down that he needed senators, and legends at Sanfrecce are well-considered.
Listing all the tiles is even hard for Aoyama. He won three J1 titles, a J.League Cup in 2022, a J2 League in 2008, plus four Japanese Super Cups. He’s been in the “Best XI” of J1 League in each winning season, but it was in 2015 when he basically took all the accolades. We rarely remember someone winning the title (sorry, Urawa Red Diamonds fans), the “Best Goal” award (for this belter against Sagan Tosu) and the MVP award.
Yes, because Sanfrecce won three titles basically as a collective, but 2012 and 2013 saw some figures emerge over others. The consecration of Hisato Sato, the sudden breakthrough of Yojiro Takahagi, the compliments to Hajime Moriyasu and his step-up as a manager. But in 2015 Aoyama was the face of a group that was transitioning from some of the senators (Moriwaki twins, Mikic, Sato, Hayashi) to a younger generation (Asano, Notsuda, Sasaki, Shiotani). And deservedly so.
The International Perception
Some J.League MVPs haven’t shone outside of Japan – if you look at the last decade, Yu Kobayashi barely played for the national team and he didn’t take an European gig; Akihiro Ienaga had to fail twice in Europe to come back and becoming an elite player in the J.League. Five years after winning the MVP title, Teruhito Nakagawa basically disappeared after leaving Marinos. So it’s not an easy title to uphold.
But Aoyama could have had more from his international career – and he had also some bad luck. His best period in the career came when Makoto Hasebe and Yasuhito Endo were still around for the last ride together – 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 AFC Asian Cup -, and when Endo fell out of the picture with head coach Vahid Halilhodzic, probably prime Aoyama was already behind us.
Aoyama took part into the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but he was a back-up. Aguirre ignored him for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and after that, Halilhodzic gave him a match to score his lone goal for Japan (in a friendly against Uzbekistan) and then ignored him for the whole 2018 FIFA World Cup cycle. When Nishino wanted to call him up in Russia, Aoyama got injured and came back only under Moriyasu.
Aoyama was indeed in the roster for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, but got injured mid-tournament. At that point, at 33 years old, he didn’t have a second shot at this. And it’s a bummer, because in that cycle we saw many players with less potential getting more pitch-time than him. But not everything can go the right way, and the relationship with the national team will probably stay as a regret.
The Character
There are many anecdotes behind Aoyama. Mihailo Petrović once described him as an “engine”, but we would go further and describe him as an “engineer” – because in the end he engineered an unforgettable growth for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and he’s overseen most of that trajectory. From the relegation times to the titles, from the first continental appearances to becoming a key-club in the J.League landscape.
Like it happened as well in the last match at home – coincidentally, against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo and Petrović himself – Aoyama always remembered how the Austrian head coach made him the player he’s today: “He was always friendly. He was so influent on us, especially the younger players like me. And he gave me so much confidence by making me a starter – that made me grow, for sure”.
And his no. 6 has already a heir, that Hayao Kawabe who came back to Sanfrecce Hiroshima this Summer: “He can do it. He’ll be supported by everyone, he’s a very good human being”. Kawabe strongly voiced his feelings of wearing the no. 6: “I came back to Hiroshima with the feeling that I was the only one who took over the number 6, and I have played with that feeling in the games so far, so I will continue to do my best”.
What’s next now for him? Aoyama will be become a member of the coaching staff at Sanfrecce, where you could find already Takuto Hayashi. Skibbe himself has no doubt: “I’m confident that he’ll contribute to Sanfrecce as a coach this time with the experience he has got”. Aoyama has an idea on what will be like: “I’ll follow the lead, but I’ll try to steal something to create my own style”.
And so Aoyama wins the award for the “Best Retirement”, while you can find the list of the usual “10+1 format” here. If you instead wanna know more about the retirements we celebrated from 2020, you can stop by here.
