Yasuhiko Okudera

Yasuhiko Okudera (奥寺 康彦, Okudera Yasuhiko, born 12 March 1952) is a Japanese former football player and manager. He is the president of J2 League club Yokohama FC and was formerly the president of English club Plymouth Argyle. Okudera was the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe,[3] as well as being the first Asian football player to score in the European Cup, while playing for 1. FC Köln in the 1979 semi-final match against Nottingham Forest and made 32 appearances – scoring nine goals – with the Japan national team.

Yasuhiko Okudera
奥寺 康彦
Personal information
Date of birth (1952-03-12) 12 March 1952[1]
Place of birth Kazuno, Akita, Japan
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1967–1969 Sagami Institute of Technology High School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1977 Furukawa Electric 100 (36)
1977–1980 1. FC Köln 75 (15)
1980–1981 Hertha BSC 25 (8)
1981–1986 Werder Bremen 159 (11)
1986–1988 Furukawa Electric 43 (3)
Total 402 (73)
International career
1972–1987[2] Japan 32 (9)
Managerial career
1996 JEF United Ichihara
2017 Yokohama FC
Medal record
Furukawa Electric
WinnerJapan Soccer League1976
WinnerJSL Cup1977
WinnerJSL Cup1986
WinnerEmperor's Cup1976
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Okudera began his playing career in 1970 as an employee of Furukawa Electric, whose soccer team played in the corporate Japan Soccer League, the top flight league in Japan at the time.[4] In 1976, the club won the 1976 Japan Soccer League and 1976 Emperor's Cup and he was selected Best Eleven. In May 1977, the club also won 1977 JSL Cup.

In the summer of 1977, during the team's trip to Germany, he was spotted by coach Hennes Weisweiler of Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln.[4] After being offered a contract by Köln[4] he joined the club in July 1977.[5] Okudera made his debut on 5 October 1977, becoming the first Japanese player to play top flight football in Europe, and Köln won the Bundesliga title that year.[4] On 20 December, he scored his first goal for Köln also achieving a brace in a 9–0 victory over Schwarz-Weiß Essen in the Quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal.[6] On 8 April 1978, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga in a 2–0 win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.[7] On 11 April 1979, Okudera scored a goal in a 3–3 draw against Nottingham Forest F.C. in the first leg of the semi-finals of the European Cup and he became the first Asian player to score in a European Cup match.[8]

After Weisweiler left Cologne during the 1980–81 season, Okudera joined second division Hertha BSC. Hertha missed promotion to the first division losing a decisive match against Werder Bremen.[4] He then joined the newly promoted Werder Bremen, whose coach Otto Rehhagel saw his play when the two sides met and offered a contract.[4] Under Rehhagel, he started playing as an attacking full-back instead of as a winger and finished second in the league three times between 1981–82 and 1985–86 with Bremen.[4][5]

In the summer of 1986, Okudera returned to his old Japanese club, Furukuwa Electric and became one of the first recognized professional players in JSL. On 26 December 1986, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–3 win over Al Hilal in the final round of the Asian Club Championship.[9] He ended his German career with 234 appearances and 26 goals. He retired as a player in 1988.

International career

On 12 July 1972, Okudera debuted for Japan national team against Khmer. He played at 1976 Asian Cup qualification and 1978 World Cup qualification until 1977. While he played in Germany, he was not selected Japan national team from 1977 to 1986. In September 1986, when he was 34 years old, he returned to Japan and was selected Japan for 1986 Asian Games. In 1987, he also played at 1988 Summer Olympics qualification. This qualification was his last game for Japan. He played 32 games and scored 9 goals for Japan until 1987.[10]

Post-playing career

Okudera's return home spurred the professionalization of the Japanese game, which had been stuck in amateur play for decades. He was the first native-born professional player in his home league, as before only foreigners (usually Brazilians) were paid strictly to play football by the companies.

After the J1 League started play in 1993, he served as the president and manager of Furukawa, which had become JEF United Ichihara with limited success. In 1998, he joined his Köln teammate Pierre Littbarski and helped form Yokohama FC. With Okudera as president and Littbarski the manager, Yokohama climbed up the ranks from the lower-tier Japan Football League and promoted to the J1 League in December 2006.

On 5 December 2003, Okudera and former South Korean star Cha Bum-kun were the Asian representatives at the preliminary draw, which determined the groupings for the qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup.

On 20 June 2008, Okudera was appointed President of the Football League Championship side Plymouth Argyle tasked with playing a global ambassador role and further strengthening the club's profile in Asia. Since this appointment Argyle have suffered a relegation and serious financial difficulties. Okudera was replaced in his role by former Fans Trust leader Chris Webb, who had played a key part in rescuing Argyle from liquidation.[11]

Okudera was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and Asian Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

In October 2017, Yokohama FC manager Hitoshi Nakata was sacked, Okudera managed the club as caretaker.

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Furukawa Electric 1970 JSL Division 1 73
1971 95
1972 80
1973 186
1974 185
1975 189
1976 188
1977 40
Total 10036
1. FC Köln 1977–78 Bundesliga 20442246
1978–79 2453121297
1979–80 30681387
1980–81 10101131
Total 7515164329421
Hertha BSC 1980–81 2. Bundesliga 25840298
Werder Bremen 1981–82 Bundesliga 30240342
1982–83 3442061425
1983–84 2914040371
1984–85 3334020393
1985–86 3313020381
Total 1591117014119012
Furukawa Electric 1986–87 JSL Division 1 212
1987–88 221
Total 433
Career total 40273

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[10]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan 197261
197300
197400
197550
197687
197740
197800
197900
198000
198100
198200
198300
198400
198500
198640
198751
Total329

Managerial statistics

[12]

Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
JEF United Ichihara 1996 1996 30 13 0 17 043.33
Yokohama FC 2017 2017 1 0 1 0 000.00
Total 31 13 1 17 041.94

Honours

Furukawa Electric

1. FC Köln

Werder Bremen

Japan

Individual

References
  1. "Japan - Y. Okudera - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  2. "OKUDERA Yasuhiko". Japan National Football Team Database. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  3. "Argyle appoint Japanese president". BBC. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  4. "Yasuhiko Okudera: I learnt by playing abroad". FIFA. 22 December 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  5. Klemm, Hans-Günter (12 March 2017). "Der Pionier Okudera wird 65 Jahre alt". kicker Online (in German). Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  6. "日本人なんていらないの概念を覆す。奥寺康彦はブンデスリーガで大活躍". WEBSPORTIVA. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  7. "Yasuhiko Okudera 1977/78". Bundeslega. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  8. "東洋のコンピューター知っていますか？ J1横浜FC・奥寺会長は日本初の世界的選手だった". MSN. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  9. "奥寺､岡田､宮内…アジア王者になった古河電工". SOCCERMAGAZINEWEB. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  10. Japan National Football Team Database
  11. "Chris Webb named Argyle president". Plymouth Argyle F.C. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  12. J.League Data Site(in Japanese)
  13. "IFFHS ALL TIME ASIA MEN'S DREAM TEAM". IFFHS. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
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