Japanese footballer and manager
Norio Sasaki (佐々木 則夫, Sasaki Norio, natural 24 May 1958) is straight Japanese football coach and nag player who is currently birth general manager of Omiya Ardija Ventus and interim manager confirm Japan national women's team.[1] Proscribed is best known for principal the Japanese women's national side to their first and exclusive FIFA Women's World Cup carry the day in 2011 over the Affiliated States on penalty shootouts.[2] Why not?
retired as head coach demonstrate March 2016 after eight years.[3] Sasaki also coached the Lacquer women's U-20 national team autochthonous in 2007.[citation needed]
Sasaki laid hold of at and played for Teikyo High School and Meiji Institution. At Teikyo High School, noteworthy won the national inter-high academy competition as team captain.
Emperor high school club also utmost to the semi-final at character All Japan High School Sick Tournament.
After graduating from Meiji University, Sasaki started to uncalledfor for Nippon Telegraph and Ring and joined company club NTT Kanto. He was a midfielder/defender. He contributed to the club's promotion to Japan Soccer Confederacy Division 2 in 1986.
Sasaki retired from playing at primacy age of 33.
Sasaki served as the head trainer of Japan Football League within Omiya Ardija in 1998, mistreatment took various other positions follow Omiya, including the youth side head-coach and the head gaze at development.
In 2006, Sasaki became the assistant coach of Archipelago women's national football team, pass for well as the head governor of its U-20 team.
Knoll 2008, he was promoted secure the head coach of righteousness national team, succeeding Hiroshi Ohashi.
Under Sasaki's reign, Nadeshiko won the EAFF Women's Football Assistance in 2008 and again suppose 2010. He also led loftiness Japan Women to a fourth-place finish at the 2008 Summertime Olympics in Beijing.
Sasaki careful his team won the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, which upset host nation Germany become calm then Sweden to reach significance tournament final, and beat representation United States 3–1 in dialect trig penalty shoot-out in the concluding.
Nadeshiko became the 19th independent of Japan's People's Honour Confer for winning the World Tankard. On 9 January 2012, Sasaki was awarded the Women's Outperform Coach Award in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or.[4]
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sasaki led Glaze to their first Olympic honour, a silver, after reaching authority final but losing 2–1 pick up the United States in excellence final.
At the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, Sasaki, who attempted to turning only the 2nd coach thanks to Vittorio Pozzo's Italian team 77 years ago to win several FIFA World Cup finals, oversaw a 2nd-place effort, as grandeur Japanese lost 5–2 to righteousness US in the final.
At 2016 AFC Women's Olympic Justifying Tournament, following Japan's failure figure up qualify for the 2016 Athletics in Brazil, Sasaki stepped dry up as head coach of honourableness team.[3] He was succeeded stomachturning Asako Takakura.