Luigi Yoshida

Luigi Yoshida
Nickname	Prince, Gino
Kanji	ルイジ 吉田
Romaji	Ruiji Yoshida
Player Statistics
Club	East Tokyo United
Position	Central Attacking Midfeider
Jersey #	#10
National Player	No
Vital Statistics
Age	26 (Born January 1st)
Height	186cm
Weight	64kg
Blood Type	o
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Chapter 9
Anime Debut	Episode 0
Voices
Japanese Voice	Daisuke Ono

Luigi Yoshida (ルイジ 吉田 Ruiji Yoshida) is a Central Attacking Midfielder for East Tokyo United.

Of half-Japanese and half-Italian descent, he is known as the "Prince" among ETU teammates not just because he forced them to but also due to his ingenious play-making ability and his narcissistic attitude. He is also called "Gino", which is the name on his jersey.

Gino is the designated taker for set pieces (free kicks, penaltys) and opponents have been shown to fear his accurate ball-striking abilities.

Overview

Gino is the sort of player that thinks about his rankings but deep down, he has deep passion for the club. He knows he is a good player and prides himself in making sure the other players don't waste the balls that he passes. Even though he's the main attraction for female ETU fans he doesn't seem to care all that much, yet still complains to the team about how he is constantly surrounded by women. His club is AC Milan because his mother is from there.

Player Performance

Gino uses Akasaki and Tsubaki as his Zakki (Guard Dog) and Bakki (Stupid hunting dog), working well with them on field. Neither Akasaki or Tsubaki have shown any issues with their designations, although the hot-headed Akasaki is not above directing sarcastic comments at Gino concerning his narcissism. Tsubaki, on the other hand, is in complete awe of Gino and his skills

While Gino was always the center of ETU's offense, it was only under Tatsumi that he began to play to his full potential. During the friendly match against Tokyo Victory, Goto noted that while Gino previously preferred to touch the ball as little as possible, he was now playing the part of a play-maker, which indicates that Gino was not ETU's playmaker in the past. What caused Gino to change is unclear although Gino has stated that he found Tatsumi's tactics to be fun.

Gino's change of attitude might also have something to do with Akasaki and Tsubaki. Even though Gino and Akasaki have been in the team together for two years, Gino only took notice of Akasaki during the camp when Akasaki started standing up to Kuroda and voicing his opinion more forcefully. Gino also claims to enjoy sending passes to Tsubaki.

Gino has issues with Natsuki and tends to stop sending Natsuki passes if he gets annoyed enough. This is a source of great consternation for Natsuki who is not very good at stealing the ball and thus is reliant on assists. Tatsumi has stated this is because for Gino, every single ball he sends to the forwards is a ball that his teammates have poured their hearts into. As such, Gino does not like passing the ball to Natsuki, who has been known to bungle balls and shoot selfishly, without consideration for the flow of the game.

Tatsumi's assistant coaches noted that Gino has played at a higher pace compared to the previous seasons where he was so bored by the way his team played that he would request to be substituted out of the match. According to them, this is possibly an indication that his style of play meshes well with Tatsumi's tactics.

Plot

Gino was not present during Tatsumi's first day and as a result, did not take part in the stamina test or the scrimmage. Instead, Gino arrived late on the first day of training camp. He arrived just as the players inside had started brawling after Tatsumi had confiscated all but one ball and directed the players to be friendly and share the ball. As soon as Gino arrived, the players calmed down prompting Tatsumi to wonder if Gino had some sort of weird power. On the next day of camp, Tatsumi challenged Gino to show him what he could do. It was then that Gino picked Akasaki and Tsubaki as his partners, going head to head with Murakoshi, Kuroda and Sugie, with Dori manning the goal, in a mini-game that Gino won. Ever since then, Gino has been playing with Akasaki and Tsubaki in offensive midfield on a regular basis.

Etymology

• The name Luigi means "famous warrior" in French and Old German.
  • His nickname Gino means "farmer" in Italian.
• Luigi's surname Yoshida means "lucky, good" (吉) (yoshi) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta/da).

Trivia

• Gino's father is Japanese and his mother is Italian, making him eligible for both the Japan and Italy national team.
• GIno likes Maserati cars.