Norio Sasaki
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 May 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Yamagata Prefecture, Japan | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Japan Women | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1990 | NTT Kanto | 26 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1997–1998 | Omiya Ardija | ||
| 2006–2007 | Japan Women U20 | ||
| 2008– | Japan Women | ||
Medal record | |||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 July 2011 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 July 2011 | |||
Norio Sasaki (佐々木 則夫, Sasaki Norio, born 24 May 1958 in Obanazawa, Yamagata) is the head coach of the Japan women's national football team and a former association football player. He served as coach of the women's U-20 team starting in 2006, and was named coach of the national team in 2008. He coached the team in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, which upset host nation Germany and then Sweden to reach the tournament final, where they defeated the United States on penalty kicks to win their first FIFA Women's World Cup. [1]
Career
Sasaki studied at and played for Teikyo High School and Meiji University. At Teikyo, he won the national inter-high school competition as team captain. His high school club also advanced to the semi-final at the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament.
After graduating from Meiji, Sasaki started to work for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and joined company club NTT Kanto Soccer Club. He was a midfielder/defender. He contributed to the club's promotion to Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1986.
Sasaki retired from the game at the age of 33. He served as the head coach of Japan Football League side Omiya Ardija in 1998. Then, he took various 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 football team as well as the head coach of its U-22 team. In 2007, he was promoted to the head coach of Japan women's national football team, succeeding Koji Ohasi.
Under Sasaki's reign, Nadeshiko won the 2008 East Asian Football Championship and became the semi-finalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Sasaki and his team won the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup hosted by Germany, beating the U.S.A on penalty shoot-outs in the final. Nadeshiko became the 19th recipients of Japan's People's Honour Award for winning the World Cup.
On 9 January 2012, Sasaki was awarded the Women's Best Coach Award in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or.[2]
References
- ^ "なでしこジャパン（日本女子代表チーム）新監督に佐々木 則夫氏が就任！" (in Japanese). Japan Football Association (jfa.or.jp). 7 December 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ "Coach of the Year". fifa.com. Zurich: FIFA. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
