Masayuki Okano

Masayuki Okano
岡野雅行
Personal information
Date of birth	25 July 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder, forward
Youth career
1988–1990	Matsue Nihon University High School
College career
Years	Team
1991–1993	Nihon University
Senior career*
Years	Team
1994–2001	Urawa Reds
2001–2003	Vissel Kobe
2004–2008	Urawa Reds
2009	TSW Pegasus
2009–2013	Gainare Tottori
Total
International career
1995–1999	Japan
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Masayuki Okano (岡野雅行, Okano Masayuki, born 25 July 1972) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. He played for the Japan national team.

Club career

Okano was born in Yokohama on 25 July 1972. After dropped out from Nihon University, he joined Urawa Reds in 1994. In 1990s, he played as forward in many matches from first season. In 2001 season, his opportunity to play decreased and he moved to Vissel Kobe in September. He played as midfielder from then. He returned to Urawa Reds in 2004. The club won the champions 2006 J1 League, 2005 and 2006 Emperor's Cup. In Asia, the club won 2007 AFC Champions League. In 2009, he moved to Hong Kong First Division League club TSW Pegasus. In July 2009, he returned to Japan and joined Japan Football League club Gainare Tottori. The club won the champions in 2010 and was promoted to J2 League. He retired end of 2013 season.

International career

In January 1995, he was selected by the Japan national team for the 1995 King Fahd Cup, but he did not play. On 20 September 1995, he debuted for the Japan national team against Paraguay. In 1996, he played at the 1996 Asian Cup. During 1998 World Cup qualification, in the final qualifier match for the 1998 World Cup against Iran, he scored the golden goal that took Japan to their first ever World Cup finals. At the 1998 World Cup, he played 29 minutes as a substitute against Croatia. He also played at the 1999 Copa America. This competition was his last game for Japan. He played 25 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 1999.^[1]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[2]
Club	Season	League			National cup^[a]		League cup^[b]		Asia		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Urawa Reds	1994	J1 League	35	3	3	0	2	0	–		40	3
	1995		44	5	3	0	–		–		47	5
	1996		30	11	3	2	13	2	–		46	15
	1997		23	4	2	1	0	0	–		25	5
	1998		34	7	2	1	0	0	–		36	8
	1999		11	0	0	0	4	0	–		15	0
	2000	J2 League	26	6	4	1	2	0	–		32	7
	2001	J1 League	8	0	0	0	1	0	–		9	0
	Total		211	36	17	5	22	2	0	0	250	43
Vissel Kobe	2001	J1 League	11	3	2	0	0	0	–		13	3
	2002		24	1	1	0	5	0	–		30	1
	2003		23	0	2	0	6	1	–		31	1
	Total		58	4	5	0	11	1	0	0	74	5
Urawa Reds	2004	J1 League	15	1	2	0	8	2	–		25	3
	2005		20	1	4	0	7	0	–		31	1
	2006		8	0	2	0	6	0	–		16	0
	2007		11	0	1	0	1	0	6	0	19	0
	2008		4	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		58	2	9	0	25	2	6	0	98	4
TSW Pegasus	2008/09	First Division	9	1	4	0	1	0	–		14	1
Gainare Tottori	2009	Football League	7	1	1	0	–		–		8	1
	2010	Football League	16	0	0	0	–		–		16	0
	2011	J2 League	13	0	1	0	–		–		14	0
	2012		20	0	0	0	–		–		20	0
	2013		10	0	1	0	–		–		11	0
	Total		66	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	69	1
Career total			402	44	38	5	59	5	6	0	505	54

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[1]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	1995	3	0
	1996	11	1
	1997	5	1
	1998	5	0
	1999	1	0
Total		25	2

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Okano goal.

List of international goals scored by Masayuki Okano^[1]
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	25 August 1996	Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan	Uruguay	5–3	5–3	Friendly
2	16 November 1997	Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia	Iran	3–2	3–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification AFC play-off