is a Japanese former

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 is the current assistant coach Japan national team.

Club career

Saito was born in

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

on April 20, 1973. 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 his local club

Shimizu S-Pulse is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which began ...

in 1996. He played as regular player from first season. At 1996 J.League Cup, the club won the champions and he was selected New Hero awards. End of 1996 season, he was also selected J.League Rookie of the Year awards. The club also won the 2nd place at

1998 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1998 season. Overview It was contested by 82 teams, and Yokohama Flügels won the championship. Results 1st Round *Omiya Ardija 1–0 TDK *Mitsubishi Nagasaki SC 0–4 Chuo University *FC Primeiro 1–0 Nihon U ...

and 1999 J1 League, he was also selected Best Eleven in 1999. In 2000s, the club won 1999–2000 Asian Cup Winners' Cup and

2001 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 2001 season. Overview It was contested by 80 teams, and Shimizu S-Pulse won the championship. Results 1st Round *Ohara Gakuen JaSRA 1–3 Komazawa University *Juntendo University 3–4 Sagawa Express * Sun Li ...

. In 2006, 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

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka ...

and played in two seasons. In 2009, he was appointed playing manager of Prefectural Leagues side

Fujieda MYFC are a Japanese J2 League football club based in Fujieda, Shizuoka. It is funded by online subscribers and is the first of its kind in Japan. The club spent two seasons in the Japan Football League before having their application accepted in 201 ...

. After promotion to the

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 am ...

in 2011 and acceptance into

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

for the 2014 season, Saito decided to leave the club.Toshihide Saito leaves Fujieda MYFC

International career

Saito was capped 17 times for the Japan national team between 1996 and 1999.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> His first international appearance came on August 25, 1996, in a friendly against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Osaka Nagai Stadium , known as the Yanmar Stadium Nagai ( ja, ヤンマースタジアム長居) for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium in Osaka, Japan. It is the home ground of J. League club Cerezo Osaka. The stadium has a seating capacity of 47,000. History When ...

. He was an unused substitute at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

. He also played at

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There was no qualifying for the final tournament. Mexico and Japan were invited to ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Individual *

J.League Rookie of the Year The J.League Best Young Player (formerly known as the "J.League Rookie of the Year" from 1993 to 2019) is awarded by the J.League to the most outstanding rookie of the season. To be considered a rookie, a player must be in his first professional y ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

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 ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* 1973 births Living people Waseda University alumni Association football people from Shizuoka Prefecture Japanese footballers J1 League players J2 League players Shimizu S-Pulse players Shonan Bellmare players Fujieda MYFC players Japan international footballers 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players Japanese football managers Fujieda MYFC managers Association football defenders {{Japan-footy-bio-stub