was a Japanese

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 ...

er and manager. He played for the Japan national team. His brother Akira Matsunaga and

Seki Matsunaga was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. His brother Akira Matsunaga and Nobuo Matsunaga also played for Japan national team. Club career Matsunaga was born in Shizuoka Prefecture on June 25, 1928. After graduating f ...

also played for Japan national team.

Club career

Matsunaga was born in

Shida District, Shizuoka was a rural Districts of Japan, district located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of the end of 2008 (the last data available before its dissolution), the district had an estimated population of 12,110 and a population density of . I ...

on December 6, 1921.Japan Football Association
/ref> After graduating from Tokyo Liberal Arts and Science University, he played for

Nippon Light Metal is a Japanese multinational public industrial holding company that through its subsidiaries is mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of aluminum and chemical products. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nik ...

National team career

In March 1954, Matsunaga was selected by the Japan national team for the 1954 World Cup qualification. On March 14, he debuted against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He also played at

1954 Asian Games The 1954 Asian Games ( fil, Palarong Asyano 1954), officially known as the Second Asian Games – Manila 1954 was a multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines, from May 1 to 9, 1954. A total of 970 athletes from 19 Asian National Olympic Commi ...

. He played 4 games for Japan until 1955.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Coaching career

After retirement, Matsunaga became a manager for

. In 1972, he promoted the club to a new division,

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...

Division 2. On September 25, 2007, Matsunaga died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

Fujieda is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 145,032 in 59,480 households, and a population density of 750 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Fujieda is a member of the World Health O ...

at the age of 85.

National team statistics

References

External links

*
Japan National Football Team Database
1921 births 2007 deaths University of Tsukuba alumni Association football people from Shizuoka Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Hagoromo Club players Footballers at the 1954 Asian Games Japanese football managers Men's association football defenders Asian Games competitors for Japan Deaths from lymphoma Deaths from cancer in Japan {{Japan-footy-defender-1920s-stub