Masami Ihara

Masami Ihara
井原正巳
Personal information
Date of birth	September 18, 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth	Koka, Shiga, Japan
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1983–1985	Moriyama High School
College career
Years	Team
1986–1989	University of Tsukuba
Senior career*
Years	Team
1990–1999	Yokohama F. Marinos
2000	Júbilo Iwata
2001–2002	Urawa Reds
Total
International career
1988–1999	Japan
Managerial career
2006–2008	Japan U-23 (assistant)
2009–2014	Kashiwa Reysol (assistant)
2015–2018	Avispa Fukuoka
2019–2023	Kashiwa Reysol (assistant)
2023–	Kashiwa Reysol
Medal record
Nissan Motors / Yokohama Marinos / Yokohama F. Marinos
Urawa Reds
Representing Japan
AFC Asian Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Masami Ihara (井原正巳, Ihara Masami, born September 18, 1967) is a Japanese former footballer and manager. He is the currently head coach of J1 League club of Kashiwa Reysol.

A defender, Ihara was captain of the Japan national team for more than a decade in the 1990s, together with striker Kazuyoshi Miura and Brazilian-born midfielder Ruy Ramos. Ihara's long standing record of 122 national team appearances was surpassed by Yasuhito Endo on October 16, 2012.^[1]^[2]

Club career

Ihara was rarely out of the spotlight in the emerging J1 League throughout the 1990s. He spent most of his career with Yokohama F. Marinos and formed a key defensive partnership with the flamboyant Tsuyoshi Kitazawa at club level. After graduating from University of Tsukuba, he joined Nissan Motors (later Yokohama Marinos) and rapidly rose through the Marinos youth ranks to become a key player. The long-serving Ihara was so important to his club that he was nicknamed Mister Marinos by many Japanese fans.^[3] He formed the backbone of the club and also helped to bring on talented youngsters like Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and Shunsuke Nakamura.

After leaving Marinos, Ihara also spent a season with Júbilo Iwata (2000) and his last two seasons with Urawa Reds (2001–2002). He retired in 2002. He played 341 games and scored 7 goals in the league. He was selected Best Eleven for six years in a row (1991–92 to 1997). He also was selected as part of the 30th Anniversary J.League Best Eleven.

International career

On January 27, 1988, when Ihara was a University of Tsukuba student, he debuted for Japan national team against United Arab Emirates. After his debut, he became a regular player playing the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification and at the 1990 Asian Games. In 1992, Japan won the AFC Asian Cup for the first time. However, at 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, Japan failed to won for qualify to 1994 FIFA World Cup. After that, Ihara became a captain for Japan and played at 1995 King Fahd Cup and 1996 AFC Asian Cup. In 1997, at 1998 World Cup qualification, Japan achieved qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup for the first time. During the 1998 World Cup in France, the veteran sweeper's experience was crucial to Japan's survival in their first World Cup appearance, forming a flat back three defence with strong centre-back Yutaka Akita as well as speedy fullbacks Eisuke Nakanishi (or strong centre-back Norio Omura). Young Marinos goalkeeper, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi was Japan's first choice goalkeeper at the time. After 1998 World Cup, he played at 1999 Copa América. This competition was his last game for Japan. He played 122 games and scored 5 goals for Japan until 1999.^[4]

Coaching career

In 2006, Ihara became the assistant coach for the Japan U-23 national team and spent two years.

He then became the assistant coach for club Kashiwa Reysol in 2009, being the caretaker on two occasions.

After a horrible three years of being at the bottom half of the table in the J2 League, Avispa Fukuoka then hired Ihara as their coach, replacing the former Marijan Pušnik. Under Ihara, then club went on to win 24 games out of 42 and collected a total of 82 points, ending their regular season in third place. Avispa then went on to the playoffs, where they beat V-Varen Nagasaki 1–0, and then drew 1–1 against Cerezo Osaka. Avispa eventually ended up getting promoted to the J1 League as they were the higher-seeded team.

Ihara's first match in charge of Avispa in the 2016 J1 League was a 2–1 away loss against Sagan Tosu. The first win in the league was on their eighth match in a 1–0 away win in Tokyo against FC Tokyo. He resigned at the end of the 2018 season.^[5]

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
Yokohama F. Marinos^[a]	1990–91	JSL Division 1	22	2			4	0	26	2
	1991–92	JSL Division 1	22	0			3	0	25	0
	1992	J1 League	—		5	0	8	0	13	0
	1993		32	0	1	0	0	0	33	0
	1994		41	1	4	0	2	0	47	1
	1995		47	1	2	0	—		49	1
	1996		29	1	1	0	13	0	43	1
	1997		22	0	2	0	0	0	24	0
	1998		27	0	1	0	0	0	28	0
	1999	J1 League	25	0	3	0	6	0	34	0
	Total		267	5	19	0	36	0	322	5
Júbilo Iwata	2000	J1 League	20	1	0	0	3	0	23	1
Urawa Reds	2001	J1 League	26	1	4	0	6	0	36	1
	2002	J1 League	28	0	0	0	9	1	37	1
	Total		54	1	4	0	15	1	73	2
Career total			341	7	23	0	54	1	418	8

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[4]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	1988	5	0
	1989	11	0
	1990	6	0
	1991	2	0
	1992	11	0
	1993	15	2
	1994	9	1
	1995	16	1
	1996	13	0
	1997	21	1
	1998	10	0
	1999	3	0
Total		122	5

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ihara goal.

List of international goals scored by Masami Ihara
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 May 1993	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Sri Lanka	2–0	6–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	5 May 1993	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Sri Lanka	3–0	6–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	11 October 1994	Hiroshima, Japan	South Korea	2–2	2–3	1994 Asian Games
4	3 June 1995	London, England	England	1–1	1–2	Umbro Cup
5	8 November 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Kazakhstan	4–0	5–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification