Kenta Hasegawa

Kenta Hasegawa
Personal information
Full name Kenta Hasegawa
Date of birth September 25, 1965 (1965-09-25) (age 46)
Place of birth Shimizu, Shizuoka, Japan
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Forward (retired)
Youth career
1981–1983 Shimizu Higashi High School
1984–1987 University of Tsukuba
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1988–1991 Nissan Motors 33 (9)
1992–1999[1] Shimizu S-Pulse 207 (45)
National team
1989–1995 Japan 27 (4)
Teams managed
2005–2010 Shimizu S-Pulse
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Kenta Hasegawa (長谷川 健太 Hasegawa Kenta?, born September 25, 1965 in Shimizu, Shizuoka) is a former Japanese international football player. He was a right-footed forward. He managed J. League Division 1 side Shimizu S-Pulse for 6 seasons between 2005 and 2010.

Contents

Playing career

Club

He was educated at and played for Shimizu Higashi High School. He won the national high school championship with his teammates including Katsumi Oenoki and Takumi Horiike. He continued his study and football at University of Tsukuba where he won the Kanto University League title in 1987.

After graduating from the university in 1988, he joined Japan Soccer League side Nissan Motor F.C. (current Yokohama F. Marinos). He contributed to the club winning the Emperor's Cup twice in 1988 and 1989. When Japan's first-ever professional league J. League started, Shimizu S-Pulse was founded in his local city. He joined the club in 1992 and re-united with his high school teammates Oenoki and Horiike. He helped the club to win the J. League Cup in 1996. He retired as a Shimizu player after the club won the second stage of the J. League 1999 season. He played 207 league matches and scored 45 league goals in 7 seasons at Shimizu.

International

He was capped 27 times and scored 4 goals for the Japanese national team between 1989 and 1995. His first international appearance came on January 20, 1989 in a friendly against Iran in Teheran. He scored for the first time for his country on June 11, 1989 in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Indonesia at Nishigaoka Soccer Stadium in Tokyo. He was a member of the Japan squad who participated in the AFC final qualifying stage for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In the crucial last match, Hasegawa was substituted in the 59th minute by Masahiro Fukuda and watched from the bench a late Iraqi equaliser dashed Japan's hope to qualify for the finals in the U.S.A., the match that the Japanese fans now refer to as the Agony of Doha.

Club career statistics

[2]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J. League Cup Total
1988/89 Nissan Motors JSL Division 1 18 4 18 4
1989/90 11 5 3 0 14 5
1990/91 4 0 4 0 8 0
1992 Shimizu S-Pulse J. League 1 - 3 0 10 2 13 2
1993 36 10 4 1 1 0 41 11
1994 44 9 1 1 1 0 46 10
1995 21 3 0 0 - 21 3
1996 24 7 3 2 16 7 43 16
1997 30 5 1 0 6 2 37 7
1998 31 9 5 2 5 0 41 11
1999 21 2 2 1 2 1 25 3
Country Japan 240 54 19 7 48 12 307 73
Total 240 54 19 7 48 12 307 73

International career statistics

Japan national team
Year Apps Goals
1989 11 2
1990 6 1
1991 0 0
1992 0 0
1993 5 0
1994 2 0
1995 3 1
Total 27 4

Managerial career

After retiring from the game, he started working as a pundit for national television NHK. He was also installed as the general manager of two university clubs, Hamamatsu University S.C. and Fuji Tokoha University F.C. (2000–2001). He became the manager of Hamamatsu University S.C. and lead them to win the Tokai University League title and the Shizuoka Prefectural qualification for the Emperor's Cup. He acquired the S-class coaching license that was required to manage a J. League club in 2004 and became the manager of his old club S-Pulse in 2005. The club struggled and narrowly escaped relegation in the 2005 season but they fought back strongly in the 2006 season and finished 4th in the league; a position equaled in 2007.[3] In 2008 Hasegawa led S-Pulse to the final of the Nabisco Cup and a fifth placed finish in the league, a placing which included them being the strongest performing team in the second half of the season. He was rewarded with an extended contract which will keep him at S-Pulse until 2010.[4] He left Shimizu after he led the club to the final of 2010-11 Emperor's Cup when his contract was expired.

In popular culture

In popular manga and anime series Chibi Maruko-chan, a boy called Kenta kun occasionally makes an appearance.[5] He loves football and is a classmate of title character Chibi Maruko. Momoko Sakura, the author of the manga, created this character after Hasegawa. Sakura and Hasegawa attended the same primary school during the same period.

References

  1. ^ http://www.s-pulse.co.jp/news/20101101-2830.html
  2. ^ http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=16245
  3. ^ Shimizu S-Pulse | The Japan Times Online
  4. ^ http://www.s-pulse.co.jp/news/20081206-1263.html Kenta Hasegawa contract extension news release
  5. ^ Chibi Maruko-chan (2006) (TV)
Japan squad – 1995 FIFA Confederations Cup
Shimizu S-Pulse – managers