Rui Osako

Cerezo Osaka Ōsako received an unofficial contract offer from Cerezo Osaka in February 2022, while only in his second year of high school. Despite playing out of position, he earned praise from manager Akio Kogiku after the 4–0 win. In August 2023, he returned from injury, playing in a 10–3 friendly win against JFL side Maruyasu Okazaki. He featured at the Torneo Delle Nazioni, hosted in Italy in April 2019, playing in four games and scoring in Japan's 5–3 win against Turkey as Japan went on to lose to Mexico in the final.

In June 2019 he was called up to the squad again ahead of 2020 AFC U-16 Championship qualification in September of the same year. He established himself as a key member of the team, and was named captain for the qualification tournament. He scored once against Malaysia as Japan finished top of their group, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship, as well as the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup, was cancelled. He was called up again in November 2019 for a tour of Spain the following month.

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