Hajime Moriyasu

Football player infobox
playername= Hajime Moriyasu


fullname = Hajime Moriyasu
nickname = Poichi
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1968|8|23
cityofbirth = Kakegawa, Shizuoka
countryofbirth = Japan
height = height|m=1.74
currentclub =
position = midfielder
youthyears = 1984-1986
youthclubs = NAGASAKI NIPPON University attached high school
years = 1987-1997 1998 1999-2001 2002-2003
clubs = Mazda SC/Sanfrecce Hiroshima → Kyoto Purple Sanga "(loan)" Sanfrecce Hiroshima Vegalta Sendai
caps(goals) = 206 0(33) 032 00(1) 065 00(1) 045 00(0)
manageryears = 2004-2007 2005-2007 2007-present
managerclubs = Sanfrecce Hiroshima"Staff" JapanU-18~20"Assistant Coach" Sanfrecce Hiroshima"Assistant Coach"
nationalyears = 1992-1996
nationalteam = Japan
nationalcaps(goals) = 035 00(1)nihongo|Hajime Moriyasu|森保 一|Moriyasu Hajime|born August 23, 1968 in Kakegawa, Shizuoka is a retired Japanese football player. He was a defensive midfielder. He is now a coach at Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Career

Club

Moriyasu was educated at and played for Nagasaki Nihon Daigaku Gakuen High School. After finishing his school, he joined Japan Soccer League side Mazda S.C. in 1987. New manager Hans Ooft rated him highly and established him as an anchoring midfielder of the team. When Japan's first-ever professional league J. League started in 1993, Mazda S.C. was transformed to Sanfrecce Hiroshima for whom he continued to play. Together with Yahiro Kazama, he controlled Hiroshima's midfield and contributed to the club winning the second stage of the 1994 J. League season.

In 1998, Ooft became the manager of Kyoto Purple Sanga and recruited Moriyasu on a loan deal. The deal was initially meant to be a permanent one but infuriated Hiroshima supporters collected signatures against the deal, which forced the clubs to settle for a loan. He was the linchpin of Kyoto for the 1998 season.

Moriyasu came back to Hiroshima for the 1999 season but find out his opportunities to play gradually decreasing mainly because of young Kazuyuki Morisaki's challenge for the place.

He was offered a coaching position at Hiroshima in 2002 but turned it down to continue to play. He moved to Vegalta Sendai and retired there at the end of the 2003 season.

International

Ooft became the national coach of Japan in 1992. He called up and played Moriyasu for his first match in charge against Argentine held on May 31, 1992 at the Tokyo National Olympic Stadium. Moriyasu was still a low-profile player at that time and many international teammates didn't know how to pronounce his name. What Ooft asked him to do throughout his reign was a simple task, to "win the ball and pass it to playmaker Ruy Ramos".

He was a member of the Japan team that won the 1992 AFC Asian Cup and played all the Japan games except the final against Saudi Arabia for which he was ineligible due to suspension.

Under Ooft, Japan progressed to the final qualifying stage of the AFC for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Moriyasu was on the pitch when Japan's hope to play in the finals 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.

He was capped 35 times between 1992 and 1996. He scored one goal for his country in a friendly against Australia on February 10, 1996.

Coaching

He has been serving as a coach for Sanfrecce Hiroshima since 2004. He also coaches the Japan national youth team which participated in the 2006 AFC Youth Championship and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He is currently a coach for the top team of Hiroshima.

Clubs

* 1987-1997: flagicon|Japan Mazda SC / Sanfrecce Hiroshima
* 1998: flagicon|Japan Kyoto Purple Sanga
* 1999-2001: flagicon|Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
* 2002-2003: flagicon|Japan Vegalta Sendai

Honors and awards

Team honors

* (Champions)