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 ...

player and manager. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Hiraki was born in Sakai on October 7, 1931. After graduating from Kwansei Gakuin University, he joined Yuasa Batteries in 1957. In 1958, he moved to Furukawa Electric. Furukawa Electric won

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

and

1964 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1964 season. The cup was held between January 11 and January 17, 1965. Overview It was contested by 10 teams, and Yawata Steel and Furukawa Electric won the championship. Results Group A Group B Final * ...

. In 1965, Furukawa Electric joined new league

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 ...

. He played 6 games in the league. He retired in 1966.

National team career

In March 1954, when Hiraki was a Kwansei Gakuin University student, he was selected Japan national team for 1954 World Cup qualification. At this 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 ...

. In 1956, he was selected Japan for

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He also played at

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and

1962 Asian Games ) , Host city = Jakarta, Indonesia , Nations participating = 17 , Athletes participating = 1,460 , Events = 120 in 13 sports , Opening ceremony = 24 August 1962 , Closing ceremony = 4 September 1962 , ...

. In 1964, he was selected Japan as captain for

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. However, he could not play for injury. After 1964 Summer Olympics, he retired from national team. He played 30 games and scored 1 goal for Japan until 1962.Japan National Football Team Database
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Coaching career

In 1962, when Hiraki played for Furukawa Electric, he became a playing manager as Ken Naganuma successor for the club and managed until 1965. He also served a coach for Japan national team and a manager for Japan U-20 national team. In 1968, he participated as a coach in

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and Japan team won Bronze Medal. In 2018, this team was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame. In 1992, he signed with

Nagoya Grampus Eight (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

joined new league

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

and he managed until 1993. In 2005, Hiraki was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame. On January 2, 2009, he died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

at the age of 77.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
/ref>

References

External links

*

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at

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organisat ...

Japan Football Hall of Fame
(Japan team at 1968 Olympics) at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hiraki, Ryuzo 1931 births 2009 deaths Kwansei Gakuin University alumni Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players JEF United Chiba players Olympic footballers for Japan Sportspeople from Sakai, Osaka Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1954 Asian Games Footballers at the 1958 Asian Games Footballers at the 1962 Asian Games Japanese football managers J1 League managers Nagoya Grampus managers Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Men's association football defenders Asian Games competitors for Japan