en Toshihide Saito

Toshihide Saito
斉藤俊秀
Personal information
Date of birth	April 20, 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1989–1991	Shimizu Higashi High School
College career
Years	Team
1992–1995	Waseda University
Senior career*
Years	Team
1996–2006	Shimizu S-Pulse
2007–2008	Shonan Bellmare
2009–2013	Fujieda MYFC
Total
International career
1996–1999	Japan
Managerial career
2010–2013	Fujieda MYFC (player/manager)
2014–2017	Japan U17 (assistant coach)
2018–	Japan (assistant coach)
Medal record
Shimizu S-Pulse
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Toshihide Saito (斉藤俊秀, Saitō Toshihide, born April 20, 1973) is a Japanese former football player and manager. He currently works as an assistant coach for the Japan national team.

Club career

Saito was born in Shizuoka on April 20, 1973. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined his local club Shimizu S-Pulse 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 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. In 2006, he moved to J2 League club Shonan Bellmare and played in two seasons. In 2009, he was appointed playing manager of Prefectural Leagues side Fujieda MYFC.^[1] After promotion to the Japan Football League in 2011^[2] and acceptance into J3 League for the 2014 season, Saito decided to leave the club.^[3]

International career

Saito was capped 17 times for the Japan national team between 1996 and 1999.^[4] His first international appearance came on August 25, 1996, in a friendly against Uruguay at Osaka Nagai Stadium. He was an unused substitute at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He also played at 1999 Copa América.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Shimizu S-Pulse	1996	J1 League	29	2	3	0	16	0	48	2
	1997		22	2	3	0	0	0	25	2
	1998		33	0	5	0	1	0	39	0
	1999		28	3	3	0	4	0	35	3
	2000		28	3	5	0	6	0	39	3
	2001		20	1	0	0	2	0	22	1
	2002		20	1	2	0	1	0	23	1
	2003		2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2004		26	3	1	0	6	0	33	3
	2005		28	0	0	0	7	1	35	1
	2006		8	1	0	0	3	0	11	1
Shonan Bellmare	2007	J2 League	46	4	2	0	—		48	4
Shonan Bellmare	2008	J2 League	38	0	1	0	—		39	0
Fujieda MYFC	2009	Prefectural Leagues	11	3	—		—		11	3
	2010	Regional Leagues	15	2	—		—		15	2
	2011	Regional Leagues	5	0	—		—		5	0
	2012	Football League	11	0	0	0	—		11	0
	2013	Football League	15	1	1	0	—		16	1
Career total			385	26	28	0	46	1	459	27