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Yutaka Akita (秋田豊, Akita Yutaka, born 6 August 1970) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team He is the current chairman of Iwate Grulla Morioka.

Club career

Akita is a strong and physical centre-back, who is also arguably one of the best headers of the ball within the J1 League. One of the best defenders of his generation and a 10-year stalwart for the Kashima Antlers since 1993, Akita left Kashima in early 2004 to move back to his native Nagoya, signing for hometown team Nagoya Grampus Eight. He moved to J2 League side Kyoto Sanga FC at the beginning of the 2007 season. In November 2007, he announced his retirement from the game.^[1] Akita won the champions J1 League 4 times, J.League Cup 3 times and Emperor's Cup 2 times at Kashima Antlers. He was selected Best Eleven 4 times.

International career

On 24 October 1995, Akita debuted for 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.^[2]

Coaching career

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.

Career statistics

Club

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

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[2]
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