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. He played for Japan national team. He also managed Japan national team as caretaker.

Club career

Hara was born in

Nasushiobara 270px, Shiobara Onsen is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 115,794 in 48,437 households, and a population density of 67 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Nasushioba ...

on October 19, 1958. After graduating from

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

, he joined

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. The club won

1981 JSL Cup Statistics of JSL Cup in the 1981 season. Overview It was contested by 20 teams, and Toshiba and Mitsubishi Motors won the championship. Results 1st Round *Honda 3-0 Tanabe Pharmaceuticals *Toshiba 2-1 Sumitomo Metals * Yomiuri 1-2 Nippon Kok ...

and 1982 Japan Soccer League. He played as a regular player from first season and played in all matches in the league until 1988. After that, club performance was not good, he also played in Division 2. He retired in 1992. He played 192 games and scored 65 goals in the league.

National team career

On November 19, 1978, when Hara was a

student, he debuted for Japan national team against

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. He also played at

1978 Asian Games The 8th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, was de ...

and 1982 World Cup qualification in 1980. From 1981, he played most matches of Japan national team until 1988. He played 75 games and scored 37 goals for Japan until 1987.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> He was known for his headers and was aptly nicknamed the "Asian Nuclear Warhead".

Coaching career

Urawa Reds

Hara retired from playing career in 1992 and began his new career as the

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

of the youth team of his old club, which had been renamed by this point as

Urawa Reds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

. In 1998 Hara became the manager of Urawa's top squad. Initially he saw success, with the team achieving a 3rd place finish for J.League's second stage in 1998. However, during J.League's first stage of 1999, the team finished 13th in the standings and Hara was released. Following his release from Urawa, Hara travelled to Spain to study the coaching methods applied by several

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

clubs. Upon returning to Japan, he spent two years working as a commentator for

Sky PerfecTV! is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation The SKY Perfect JSAT Group is ...

FC Tokyo

In 2002 Hara decided to return to coaching as the manager of

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be si ...

. He brought youngsters such as

Naohiro Ishikawa is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Ishikawa was born in Yokosuka on 12 May 1981. He joined Yokohama F. Marinos from youth team in 2000. Although he was Japan U-20 national team player, he co ...

Teruyuki Moniwa is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Maruyasu Okazaki. Club career Moniwa was born in Atsugi on 8 September 1981. He joined J1 League club Bellmare Hiratsuka (later ''Shonan Bellmare'') from youth team in 1999 ...

and

Akira Kaji is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defender. He last played for Japan national team until 2008. Club career After graduating from Takigawa Daini High School, Kaji joined Cerezo Osaka in 1998. He made his first league ...

, introduced Spanish-style

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

into the young and fresh team, and won

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of Y ...

in 2004. Hara was released from his position as manager of the club in 2005. However in 2007 he was re-appointed as the club's manager, but was again released only after one season.

Japan national team

On 12 February 2009, Hara was appointed by

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 ...

as its new technical director for the Japan national team, responsible for strengthening the national team. After fellow Waseda alumnus

Takeshi Okada is a Japanese former football player and manager. He played for and managed the Japan national team. Club career Okada was born in Osaka on August 25, 1956. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined Japan Soccer League (JSL) club Fur ...

stepped down after leading Japan to a lauded performance at the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Hara was given the responsibility for finding his replacement, which was revealed in late August after protracted negotiations in Europe to be the Italian manager

Alberto Zaccheroni Alberto Zaccheroni (; born 1 April 1953) is an Italian football manager, formerly in charge of the United Arab Emirates and Japan national football teams. He has managed a number of top clubs in Serie A, the high point of his career being his s ...

. He also took charge in a caretaker capacity for the friendlies against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, leading Japan to a 1-0 win, and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, both of which were held at his former hunting ground in

Saitama Stadium 2002 , often called or simply , is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Currently, J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds use this stadium for home games. It is the largest football-specific stadium in Japan an ...

Club statistics

National team statistics

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
/ref>

References

External links

*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hara, Hiromi 1958 births Living people Waseda University alumni Association football people from Tochigi Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan international footballers Japan Soccer League players Urawa Red Diamonds players Japanese football managers J1 League managers Urawa Red Diamonds managers FC Tokyo managers Japan national football team managers Footballers at the 1978 Asian Games Footballers at the 1982 Asian Games Footballers at the 1986 Asian Games Association football forwards Asian Games competitors for Japan