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Yuji Okuma
大熊 裕司
Personal information
Full name Yuji Okuma
Date of birth (1969-01-19) January 19, 1969 (age 56)
Place of birth Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Height 1.73 m
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1984–1986 Bunan High School
1987–1990 Chuo University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1995 Kashiwa Reysol 92 (7)
1996–1997 Kyoto Purple Sanga 50 (1)
1998 Avispa Fukuoka 21 (0)
Total 163 (8)
Teams managed
2014 Cerezo Osaka
2016–2019 Cerezo Osaka U-23
2024- Tegevajaro Miyazaki
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Yuji Okuma (大熊 裕司, Okuma Yuji, born January 19, 1969) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played as a Midfielder. His elder brother Kiyoshi was also a former footballer.

Playing Career

Yuji Okuma was born in Saitama, Japan. He was born on January 19, 1969. After finishing his studies at Chuo University, he joined a football club called Hitachi in 1991. This club later became known as Kashiwa Reysol.

He played many games as a defensive midfielder from his very first season. In 1996, he moved to Kyoto Purple Sanga. This team had just been promoted to the J1 League, which is Japan's top football league.

Yuji Okuma played many matches for Kyoto Purple Sanga in 1996. He became a regular player for the team in 1997. In 1998, he moved to Avispa Fukuoka and played for them for one season. He decided to retire from playing football at the end of the 1998 season.

Coaching Career

After he stopped playing, Yuji Okuma started a new career as a coach. He began coaching at Avispa Fukuoka in 1999. In 2005, he moved to Cerezo Osaka and worked there as a coach.

In 2007, he became a coach for the Japan U-20 national team. This team is for players under 20 years old. In 2010, he returned to Cerezo Osaka. This time, he became the manager for their youth team.

In September 2014, the main team's manager, Marco Pezzaiuoli, left his job because the team was not doing well. Yuji Okuma took over as the new manager. However, Cerezo Osaka finished in 17th place out of 18 clubs in the 2014 season.

Because of this, Cerezo Osaka was moved down to a lower league, the J2 League. Yuji Okuma then resigned as manager. In 2015, he went back to managing the youth team. In 2016, he became the manager for a new team called Cerezo Osaka U-23.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Yūji Ōkuma para niños

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