is a Japanese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or forward. He played for the Japan national team.

Club career

Okano was born in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

on 25 July 1972. After dropped out from

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

, he joined

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 1994. In 1990s, he played as forward in many matches from first season. In 2001 season, his opportunity to play decreased and he moved to

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matc ...

in September. He played as midfielder from then. He returned to Urawa Reds in 2004. The club won the champions 2006 J1 League, 2005 and

2006 Emperor's Cup The 86th Emperor's Cup had been held between September 17, 2006 and January 1, 2007. The previous season's winners Urawa Red Diamonds defended the Cup and completed the league-cup double. Schedule Matches First Round Second Round Third Rou ...

. In Asia, the club won

2007 AFC Champions League The 2007 AFC Champions League was the 26th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 5th edition under the current AFC Champions League title. Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds became champions for the first time, beating S ...

. In 2009, he moved to

Hong Kong First Division League The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation ...

club TSW Pegasus. In July 2009, he returned to Japan and joined

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership a ...

club Gainare Tottori. The club won the champions in 2010 and was promoted to J2 League. He retired end of 2013 season.

International career

In January 1995, he was selected by the Japan national team for the 1995 King Fahd Cup, but he did not play. On 20 September 1995, he debuted for the Japan national team 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 ...

. In 1996, he played at the 1996 Asian Cup. During 1998 World Cup qualification, in the final qualifier match for the 1998 World Cup against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, he scored the

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

that took Japan to their first ever World Cup finals. At the 1998 World Cup, he played 29 minutes as a substitute against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He also played at the 1999 Copa America. This competition was his last game for Japan. He played 25 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 1999.Japan National Football Team Database
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Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Okano goal.''

Honours

Urawa Red Diamonds * AFC Champions League: 2007 * J1 League: 2006 * Emperor's Cup: 2005, 2006 *

Japanese Super Cup The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J. League and the Japan Football Association (JFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the r ...

: 2006 Gainare Tottori *

: 2010 Individual *

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only in two occasions there was a full-Japanese Best XI (20 ...

: 1996 * J.League Fair Play Award: 1996 Professional wrestling championships *

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...

Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight in its DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) brand. Open to anyone, regardless of gender or DDT employment status, the championship is defended " 24/7", as ...

( 1 time)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
*
Masayuki Okano Blog
(Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Okano, Masayuki 1972 births Living people Nihon University alumni Association football people from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japanese expatriate men's footballers J1 League players J2 League players Japan Football League players Urawa Red Diamonds players Vissel Kobe players Hong Kong Pegasus FC players Gainare Tottori players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players Hong Kong First Division League players Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Men's association football midfielders Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions