Norio Sasaki

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Norio Sasaki
佐々木 則夫
Norio Sasaki 2015.jpg
Sasaki in 2015
Personal information
Full nameNorio Sasaki
Date of birth (1958-05-24) 24 May 1958 (age 65)
Place of birthObanazawa, Yamagata, Japan
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Omiya Ardija Ventus (general manager)
Youth career
1974–1976Teikyo High School
1977–1980Meiji University
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1981–1991NTT Kanto25(2)
Total25(2)
Teams managed
1997–1998Omiya Ardija
2006Japan Women U-17
2007–2010Japan Women U-20
2008–2016Japan Women
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

After graduating from Meiji University, Sasaki joined NTT Kanto. He was a midfielder. He contributed to the club's promotion to Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1987. He retired in 1991.

Sasaki served as the head coach of Japan Football League side Omiya Ardija in 1998, then took various other positions at Omiya, including the youth team head-coach and the head of development.

In 2006, Sasaki became the assistant coach of Japan women's national team, as well as the head coach of its U-20 team. In 2008, he was promoted to the head coach of the national team, succeeding Hiroshi Ohashi.

Under Sasaki's reign, Japan won the EAFF Women's Football Championship in 2008 and again in 2010. He also led the Japan Women to a fourth-place finish at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Sasaki was the manager of the Japan when they won the 2011 World Cup. FIFA[1] named Sasaki 2011 "Coach of the Year".[2] He also coached the national team to a second-place finish at the 2015 World Cup.

He was also coach of the women's team which won a silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics at London.[3]

Sasaki announced his retirement from coaching in 2012,[4] but was persuaded to stay on as national team coach.

In 2019, he was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame.[5]

Honours

  • FIFA World Coach of the Year, 2011[6]

Related pages

References

  1. FIFA is an acronym. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which is the commonly used French name of the International Federation of Association Football.
  2. Kim McCauley (2012-01-09). "FIFA Women's World Coach Of The Year 2011: Norio Sasaki Wins Honor". Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  3. Baxter, Kevin. "Japanese soccer team gets upgrade ...," Los Angeles Times. August 11, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-17.
  4. Westlake, Adam. "Nadeshiko Japan coach Sasaki to step down after London Olympics," Archived 2013-03-18 at the Wayback Machine Japan Daily Press. August 9, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-17.
  5. Japan Football Association
  6. Meiji University, "Norio Sasaki, coach of Nadeshiko Japan and a graduate of Meiji University, receives the FIFA Women’s Football Coach of the Year prize, the first-ever such feat for an Asian national," January 11, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-17.

Other websites

Template:Japan squad 2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup Template:Japan women's football squad 2008 Summer Olympics Template:Japan squad 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup Template:Japan squad 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Template:Japan women's football squad 2012 Summer Olympics

Template:Japan squad 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup