Masaaki Sawanobori

Masaaki Sawanobori
Personal information
Full name	Masaaki Sawanobori
Date of birth	January 12, 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth	Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1985–1987	Tokai University Daiichi High School
1988–1991	Tokai University
Senior career*
Years	Team
1992–2005	Shimizu S-Pulse
Total
National team
1993–2000	Japan
Honours
Shimizu S-Pulse
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Masaaki Sawanobori (澤登正朗, Sawanobori Masaaki, born January 12, 1970) is a former Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Biography

Sawanobori was born in Fujinomiya on January 12, 1970. After graduating from Tokai University, he joined new club Shimizu S-Pulse based in his local Shizuoka Prefecture in 1992. He played as regular player from first season. He was selected "J.League Rookie of the Year" in 1993. In 1996, the club won J.League Cup. In 1999, the club won the 2nd place in J1 League and he was selected "Japanese Footballer of the Year awards". In Asia, the club also won 1999–00 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. In 2001, the club won Emperor's Cup. He retired in 2005. He played 381 games and scored 85 goals in the league.

In April 1993, Sawanobori was selected the Japan national team for 1994 World Cup qualification. At this qualification, on April 8, he debuted against Thailand. In 1994, he also played at 1994 Asian Games. In September 1999, he played for Japan for the first time in 5 years. In 2000, he played at 2000 Asian Cup qualification. This qualification was his last game for Japan. He played 16 games and scored 3 goals for Japan until 2000.

Statistics

^[1]^[2]

Club statistics			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Asia		Total
1992	Shimizu S-Pulse	J1 League	-		3	0	10	1	-		13	1
1993			35	7	4	2	1	0	-		40	9
1994			41	7	1	0	1	0	-		43	7
1995			40	13	1	0	-		-		41	13
1996			29	9	3	0	16	3	-		48	12
1997			31	11	3	1	6	0	-		40	12
1998			32	10	5	3	4	2	-		41	15
1999			28	9	3	0	4	1	-		35	10
2000			27	3	5	0	4	1	-		36	4
2001			26	9	5	2	2	1	-		33	12
2002			29	3	3	2	7	3	-		39	8
2003			14	2	4	0	2	0	1	1	21	3
2004			24	1	1	0	5	0	-		30	1
2005			25	1	1	0	5	0	-		31	1
Country	Japan		381	85	41	10	57	11	1	1	480	107
Total			381	85	41	10	57	11	1	1	480	107