Akira Nishino (footballer)

Akira Nishino
西野 朗
Nishino as Japan manager at the 2018 World Cup
Personal information
Full name Akira Nishino
Date of birth (1955-04-07) 7 April 1955 (age 68)
Place of birth Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1971–1973 Urawa Nishi High School
1974–1977 Waseda University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1990 Hitachi 143 (29)
International career
1977–1978 Japan 12 (1)
Managerial career
1991–1992 Japan U20
1994–1996 Japan U23
1998–2001 Kashiwa Reysol
2002–2011 Gamba Osaka
2012 Vissel Kobe
2014–2015 Nagoya Grampus
2018 Japan
2019–2021 Thailand U23
2019–2021 Thailand
Medal record
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Akira Nishino (西野 朗, Nishino Akira, born 7 April 1955) is a Japanese football manager and former player.

Club career

Nishino was born in Saitama on 7 April 1955. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined Hitachi in 1978. The club won the 2nd place at 1980 JSL Cup and 1982 Japan Soccer League. He retired in 1990. He was elected Best Eleven in 1985–86.

International career

In March 1977, when Nishino was a Waseda University student, he was selected in Japan national team for 1978 World Cup qualification. At this qualification, on 6 March, he debuted against Israel. He played 12 games and scored 1 goal for Japan until 1978.

Managerial career

After retirement, in 1990, Nishino became a coach for Hitachi (later Kashiwa Reysol). From 1991, he managed the Japan U-20 national team and Japan U-23 national team. At U-23 Japan in 1996 Summer Olympics Qualifiers, Japan qualified to 1996 Summer Olympics for the first time in 28 years since 1968 Summer Olympics, where Japan won the bronze medal. At 1996 Olympics, although Japan won 2 matches, Japan lost in the First round. At this time, Japan beat Brazil in first game. It was known as the "Miracle of Miami" (マイアミの奇跡) in Japan.

In 1997, Nishino returned to Kashiwa Reysol and became a coach. In 1998, he became a manager. In 1999, he led the club to win the 1999 J.League Cup. In 2000, the club won the 3rd place in J.League Division 1 for 2 years in a row and he received Best Managers award. However, he was sacked in July 2001. In 2002, he signed with Gamba Osaka. In 2005, the club won J.League Division 1 for the first time in club history and he was elected for the Best Manager award. In 2008, the club won AFC Champions League and the 3rd place at Club World Cup. He was also elected AFC Coach of the Year awards. The club also won the 2007 J.League Cup, the 2008 and the 2009 Emperor's Cup. He resigned in 2011. In May 2012, he signed with Vissel Kobe as Masahiro Wada's successor. However, he was sacked in November. In 2014, he signed with Nagoya Grampus and managed the club until 2015.

In March 2016, Nishino returned to the Japan Football Association as a technical director. In April 2018, Japan national team manager Vahid Halilhodžić was sacked and Nishino was named as the new manager. A big challenge for Nishino was lack of time for preparation, while also being doubted because of his lack of coaching experience. Nonetheless, in the 2018 World Cup, he registered history by helping Japan to beat Colombia 2–1, the first ever defeat of a CONMEBOL team to an Asian side. His brilliant tactics continued to be demonstrated when Japan held Senegal in a 2–2 draw. His Japan lost 0–1 to Poland in the final group match, but as Japan received lesser yellow cards than Senegal, Japan controversially qualified to the knockout stage, becoming the only Asian team to do so in the 2018 World Cup. However, his Japan lost 2–3 to Belgium despite having led 2–0, thus were eliminated from the tournament. Nishino stepped down once his current term expired following the World Cup.

Nishino consented to take charge of the Thailand's senior and under-23 national sides on 17 July 2019, became the first Asian to coach Thailand, and on 24 January 2020, this contract has been extended until 2022. On 29 July 2021, Football Association of Thailand announced that it had parted ways with Nishino, which was later explained due to Thailand's poor performance in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League
Division Apps Goals
Hitachi 1978 JSL Division 1 13 1
1979 12 0
1980 15 6
1981 8 1
1982 15 4
1983 18 2
1984 17 2
1985–86 22 12
1986–87 17 1
1987–88 JSL Division 2
1988–89
1989–90 JSL Division 1 6 0
Career total 143 29

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 1977 4 0
1978 8 1
Total 12 1

Managerial statistics

As of 15 June 2021
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Kashiwa Reysol 1998 2001 109 67 2 40 061.47
Gamba Osaka 2002 2011 328 172 67 89 052.44
Vissel Kobe 2012 2012 19 5 6 8 026.32
Nagoya Grampus 2014 2015 68 26 16 26 038.24
Japan 2018 2018 7 2 1 4 028.57
Thailand U23 2019 2021 9 4 2 3 044.44
Thailand 2019 2021 11 2 5 4 018.18
Total 551 278 99 174 050.45

Honours

Manager

Kashiwa Reysol
Gamba Osaka

Individual

Player
Manager

This page was last updated at 2024-03-15 03:21 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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