is a former

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager.

Playing career

Matsunami was born in

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

on November 21, 1974. After graduating from high school, he joined Gamba Osaka in 1993. he played as regular player from first season. On 20 November, he became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

at age 18 years, 364 days. In 1997, he played with

Patrick M'Boma Henri Patrick Mboma Dem (born 15 November 1970) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the former all-time top goal-scorer for the Cameroon national team. Club career Born in Douala, Cameroon, Mboma sta ...

and he played all 32 matches and scored 13 goals. M'Boma also scored 25 goals and became a top scorer. In 2000s, although he played as substitutes behind young player Hiromi Kojima,

Kota Yoshihara is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Yoshihara was born in Fujiidera on February 2, 1978. After graduating from high school, he joined Japan Football League club Consadole Sapporo in 1996. The cl ...

and so on, he played many matches. In 2005, the club won the champions

first league champions in club history. The club also won the 2nd place

2005 J.League Cup The 2005 J.League Cup, officially the 2005 J.League Yamazaki Baking, Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, was the 3rd edition of Japan association football league cup tournament and the 13th edition under the current J.League Cup format. The championship started ...

. He retired end of 2005 season.

Coaching career

After retirement, Matsunami started coaching career at Gamba Osaka in 2006. He mainly coached for youth team until 2009. In 2010, he became a coach for top team under manager Akira Nishino. In 2012,

José Carlos Serrão José Carlos Serrão (born October 12, 1950) is a Brazilian manager and former football player. On 27 March 2012, Jose Carlos Serrao having lasted only five games as Gamba Osaka manager, the former Asian champions sacked the Brazilian and repl ...

became new manager as Nishino successor. However the club results were bad and Serrão was sacked in March. Matsunami named new manager as Serrão successor. However the club was relegated to

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

end of season. Although the club won the 2nd place

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

, he resigned end of 2012 season. In 2014, he moved to newly was relegated to

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

club,

Gainare Tottori are a Japanese football club, based in Tottori, Tottori. They play in the J3 League. Their team colour is green. Their team name ''Gainare'' derives from the Tottori dialect word ''gaina'' meaning "great" and Italian ''sperare'' meaning "to hop ...

. Although he managed in 2 seasons, the club could not return to J2 and he resigned end of 2015 season.

Club statistics

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
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References

External links

* * * * 1974 births Living people Association football people from Gifu Prefecture Japanese footballers J1 League players Gamba Osaka players Japanese football managers J1 League managers J3 League managers Gamba Osaka managers Gainare Tottori managers Association football forwards {{Japan-footy-forward-1970s-stub