is a former 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.

Playing career

Sato was born in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

on 22 November 1972. After graduating from high school, he joined Sumitomo Metal (later ''Kashima Antlers'') in 1991. Although he played many matches in first season, he could hardly play in the match behind Masaaki Furukawa from 1992. His opportunity to play decreased from 1995, the club won the champions 1996 J1 League. In 1997, he became a regular goalkeeper and the club won the champions J.League Cup and

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 ...

. However he could not play in the match behind

Daijiro Takakuwa is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Takakuwa was born in Tokyo on August 10, 1973. After graduating from high school, he joined Yokohama Marinos (later ''Yokohama F. Marinos'') in 1992. However h ...

in 1998. He moved 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 ...

club Consadole Sapporo. He played as regular goalkeeper, and the club won the champions in 2000 and was promoted to

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 ...

. However the club was relegated to J2 end of 2002 season and his opportunity to play decreased behind Yosuke Fujigaya in 2003. In September 2003, he moved to

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

. Although he had no opportunity to play in league competition, at

2003 Emperor's Cup The 83rd Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 2003 season. Overview It was contested by 80 teams, and Júbilo Iwata won the cup for the first time. Results 1st Round *Hannan University 2–0 Wakayama Kihoku Shukyudan *Funabashi Munic ...

, he played all matches and won the champions. He played as regular player in 2004. However the club got Japan national team goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi in 2005 and Sato could hardly play in the match from 2005. He announced his retirement in November 2007. However he came back as player until June 2008 because reserve goalkeeper got hurt.

Club statistics

References

External links

* * 1972 births Living people Association football people from Miyagi Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players J2 League players Kashima Antlers players Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo players Júbilo Iwata players Men's association football goalkeepers {{Japan-footy-goalkeeper-stub