- Masahiro Fukuda
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Masahiro Fukuda Personal information Full name Masahiro Fukuda Date of birth December 27, 1966 Place of birth Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) Playing position Forward (retired) Youth career 1985–1988 Chuo University Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1989–2002 Mitsubishi Motors / Urawa Red Diamonds 287 (143) National team 1990–1995 Japan 45 (9) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Masahiro Fukuda (福田 正博 Fukuda Masahiro, born December 27, 1966 in Yokohama, Kanagawa) is a former Japanese football player. He was a forward but sometimes played in the midfield.
Contents
Career
Club
After studying at and playing for Sagami Institute of Technology High School and Chuo University, he joined Mitsubishi Motors in 1989 and started to play for their football club that played in the Japan Soccer League Division 2. In his rookie season, he scored 36 goals and helped the club to gain the promotion to Division 1.
When Japan's first-ever professional league J. League started in early 90's, Mitsubishi was transformed to Urawa Red Diamonds. He turned professional and continued to play for the club. He scored his first J. League goal on June 9, 1993 against Kashima Antlers at Kashima Soccer Stadium. All the Urawa players except the goalkeeper flocked around Fukuda to celebrate the goal. While the celebration was prolonged, the referee signalled the restart and Kashima's Hisashi Kurosaki equalised immediately.
In the 1995 season, Fukuda scored 32 goals that makes him the League's top scorer and a member of the J-League Team of the Year.
Urawa was fighting the relegation battle in the 1998 season. In order to stay up, Urawa needed to win the last match in the normal 90 minutes. J. League employed extra time with the golden goal rule even for a league match at that time, and 2 points were awarded for an extra win while a regulation win earned 3 points. Urawa failed to win in the 90 minutes and the players fielded for the extra time knowing that they had already been relegated. Fukuda scored the golden goal, which fans now remember as the "saddest golden goal in the world."
He retired from the game after the 2002 season. He played his senior club football with one club. He was the symbolic player of Urawa Red Diamonds and the fans refer to him as Mr. Reds. At the beginning of 2003, the testimonial match for Fukuda was held at Saitama Stadium where more than 50,000 supporters attended to bid farewell.
International
He was capped 45 times and scored 9 goals for the Japanese national team between 1990 and 1995. His first international appearance came on July 27, 1990 in a Dynasty Cup match against Korea Republic in Beijing. He scored his first goal for his country on August 24, 1992 in another Dynasty Cup match against China in Beijing.
He was a member of the Japan team that won the 1992 AFC Asian Cup and he played 4 games and scored 1 goal in the semi-final against China.
Under national coach Hans Ooft, Japan reached the AFC final qualifying stage for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He was on the pitch, after replacing Kenta Hasegawa in the 59th minute, when Japan's hope to play in the finals in the U.S.A. was dashed by an injury-time Iraqi equaliser in the last qualifier, the match that the Japanese fans now refer to as the Agony of Doha.
After retirement
He works as a football commentator and columnist for various programs and magazines. He also acquired the S-Class Coaching license that was a prerequisite to manage a J. League club in 2007. He has been an assistant coach at Urawa since 2008.[1]
Honors and awards
Individual honors
- J. League Top Scorer: 1995
- J. League Best Eleven: 1995
- AFC Player of the Month: 1995
- Urawa Red Diamonds Top Scorer: 152
Team honors
- 1992 Asian Cup (Champions)
Career statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Japan League Emperor's Cup J. League Cup Total 1989/90 Mitsubishi Motors JSL Division 2 26 36 0 0 1 0 27 36 1990/91 JSL Division 1 18 7 2 0 0 0 20 7 1991/92 15 7 3 2 0 0 18 9 1992 Urawa Red Diamonds J. League 1 - 4 2 9 4 13 6 1993 27 4 2 3 0 0 29 7 1994 25 6 3 2 0 0 28 8 1995 50 32 3 2 - 53 34 1996 4 3 0 0 7 4 11 7 1997 29 21 0 0 8 4 37 25 1998 17 7 3 4 0 0 20 11 1999 23 13 2 1 4 0 29 14 2000 J. League 2 12 2 0 0 0 0 12 2 2001 J. League 1 14 2 4 0 3 0 21 2 2002 27 3 1 0 9 1 37 4 Country Japan 287 143 27 16 41 13 355 172 Total 287 143 27 16 41 13 355 172 National team statistics
Japan national team Year Apps Goals 1990 5 0 1991 2 0 1992 8 3 1993 15 3 1994 0 0 1995 15 3 Total 45 9 References
- ^ Urawa Red Diamonds Official Website Team Profile Retrieved on February 10, 2009
- ^ http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=16222
External links
GK: Shinkichi Kikuchi · DF: Naoki Soma · DF: Masami Ihara · DF: Masaharu Suzuki · DF: Guido Buchwald · MF: Tetsuji Hashiratani · MF: Bismarck · FW: Masahiro Fukuda · FW: Kazuyoshi Miura · FW: Dragan Stojković · FW: Hiroaki MorishimaJ. League Division 1 top scorers Japan Soccer League | 1993: Díaz | 1994: Ordenewitz | 1995: Fukuda | 1996: Miura | 1997: Mboma | 1998: Nakayama | 1999: Hwang Sun-Hong | 2000: Nakayama | 2001: Will | 2002: Takahara | 2003: Ueslei | 2004: Emerson | 2005: Araújo | 2006: Washington / Magno Alves | 2007: Juninho | 2008: Marquinhos | 2009: Maeda | 2010: Kennedy / MaedaJapan squad – 1992 AFC Asian Cup Champions (1st Title) 
Japan squad – 1995 FIFA Confederations Cup Categories:- 1966 births
- Living people
- Japanese footballers
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries S.C. players
- Mitsubishi Motors S.C. players
- Urawa Red Diamonds players
- Japan Soccer League players
- J. League players
- Japan international footballers
- 1992 AFC Asian Cup players
- 1995 King Fahd Cup players
- AFC Asian Cup-winning players
- Sportspeople from Yokohama
- Chuo University alumni
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