Yutaka Akita

Yutaka Akita
秋田豊
Personal information
Date of birth	6 August 1970 (age 53)
Place of birth	Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1986–1988	Aichi High School
1989–1992	Aichi Gakuin University
Senior career*
Years	Team
1993–2003	Kashima Antlers
2004–2006	Nagoya Grampus Eight
2007	Kyoto Sanga
Total
National team
1995–2003	Japan
Teams managed
2010	Kyoto Sanga
2012–2013	Machida Zelvia
2020–2022	Iwate Grulla Morioka
Honours
Kashima Antlers
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Yutaka Akita (Japanese: 秋田豊, Akita Yutaka, born August 6, 1970) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team.

Biography[change | change source]

Akita was born in Nagoya on August 6, 1970. After graduating from Aichi Gakuin University, he joined J1 League club Kashima Antlers in 1993. Although he played as right side back at first, he became a regular player as center back in the 1993 season. The club won the champions in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2001 season. In 2000, the club won all three major title in Japan; J1 League, J.League Cup and Emperor's Cup first time in J1 League history. In 2004, he moved to his local club Nagoya Grampus Eight and played in 3 seasons. In 2007, he moved to J2 League club Kyoto Sanga FC. He retired end of the 2007 season.

On October 24, 1995, Akita debuted for the Japan national team against Saudi Arabia. He played at 1996 Asian Cup. He became a regular from the middle of 1997 and at 1998 World Cup qualification in 1997, Japan won the qualify for 1998 World Cup first time Japan's history. He played at 1998 World Cup and 1999 Copa América. He played full-time in all matches at both competitions. In 2002, he was selected Japan for the first time in 3 years. He was also selected Japan for 2002 World Cup, but he did not play in the match. After 2002 World Cup, he became a regular player again under new manager Zico. On 8 June 2003, the match against Argentina is his last game for Japan. Although he was a member of Japan for 2003 Confederations Cup in June, he did not play in the match. He played 44 games and scored 4 goals for Japan until 2003.

After retirement, Akita started coaching career at Kyoto Sanga FC in 2008. In July 2010, he became a manager as Hisashi Kato successor. However the club was relegated to J2 League and he resigned end of the season. He signed with Tokyo Verdy in 2012. In November, he resigned and became a manager for FC Machida Zelvia. He was sacked in June 2013. In 2020, he signed with J3 League club Iwate Grulla Morioka.

Career statistics[change | change source]

Club[change | change source]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League		Emperor's Cup		J. League Cup		Asia		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kashima Antlers	1993	35	0	5	2	5	1	–		45	3
	1994	38	4	0	0	1	0	–		39	4
	1995	50	0	4	0	–		–		54	0
	1996	16	0	3	0	4	0	–		23	0
	1997	21	3	5	1	2	2	–		28	6
	1998	32	3	4	0	1	0	–		37	3
	1999	28	2	2	0	6	1	–		36	3
	2000	28	1	4	1	7	0	–		39	2
	2001	29	2	2	0	6	1	–		37	3
	2002	29	4	5	1	8	0	–		42	5
	2003	28	1	4	1	5	0	3	0	40	2
Nagoya Grampus Eight	2004	26	0	2	0	7	0	–		35	0
	2005	19	1	2	0	0	0	–		21	1
	2006	12	2	1	0	3	0	–		16	2
Kyoto Sanga FC	2007	14	0	0	0	–		–		14	0
Total		405	23	43	6	55	5	3	0	506	34

International[change | change source]

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[1]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	1995	2	1
	1996	2	0
	1997	16	2
	1998	10	0
	1999	7	0
	2000	0	0
	2001	0	0
	2002	3	0
	2003	4	1
Total		44	4

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

List of international goals scored by Yutaka Akita
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 October 1995	Matsuyama, Japan	Saudi Arabia	2–1	2–1	Friendly
2	4 October 1997	Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	1–0	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	25 November 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Kazakhstan	1–0	5–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	8 June 2003	Osaka, Japan	Argentina	1–2	1–4	2003 Kirin Cup