Naoki Yamada has emerged as one of Japan's most promising young players in a generation. Possesses an excellent vision for a player of his age, attacking minded guy, he accomplishes his defensive duties as well although he isn't much of use there due to his very small size but he bravely tries nonetheless and manages to intercept a fair amount of balls, he wouldn't hesitate to tackle as well.
While he isn't a slow player, he uses more his ability to quickly turn and make sudden rushes to pass defenders. The ball sticks to his feet like Iron to a magnet but his skills and style of playing expose him to the brutality of defenders. A renowned player to compare him with ? Pablo Aimar. Pretty similar style.
Trivia : His cute and innocent looking face greatly boosted his popularity and increased his exposure to medias.
He had apprehensions before that game and said he was afraid to die (referring to the sate of war and chaos in Yemen back at the time while Western embassies were shutting down and foreigners leaving) but no one was expecting this.
