Ryuzo Morioka

is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team.
Biography.
Morioka was born in Yokohama on October 7, 1975. After graduating from Toin Gakuen High School, he joined Kashima Antlers in 1994. He moved to Shimizu S-Pulse in August 1995. He played many matches as center back. The club won 1996 J.League Cup and 2001 J1 League. In Asia, the club won the champions 1999–00 Asian Cup Winners' Cup and the 3rd place 2000–01 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. However his opportunity to play decreased from 2005. He moved to J2 League club Kyoto Sanga FC in 2007. He played as captain and the club was promoted to J1 League in 2007. He retired end of 2008 season.
In April 1995, Morioka was selected the Japan U-20 national team for 1995 World Youth Championship, but he did not play in the match. On March 31, 1999, Morioka debuted for the Japan national team against Brazil. After the debut, he became a regular player and played all matches including 1999 Copa América in 1999. He mainly played as central defender in three back as Masami Ihara successor. He also served as captain in many matches. In September 2000, he was selected the Japan U-23 national team as over aged player for 2000 Summer Olympics. He played 3 games as captain. In October, he played at 2000 Asian Cup. He played full-time in all 6 matches and Japan won the champions. He also played at 2001 Confederations Cup and Japan won the 2nd place. In 2002, he could not play for injury. He was selected Japan for 2002 World Cup. He played as captain in first match against Belgium, but he was injured and replaced. After 2002 World Cup, in March 2003, he was selected Japan again by new manager Zico. On June 8, 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 38 games for Japan until 2003.
After the retirement, Morioka started coaching career at Kyoto Sanga FC in 2009. He served as an assistant coach for top team and manager for youth team until 2016 excluding 2014 he moved to Sagawa Printing Kyoto and served as an assistant coach. In 2017, he moved to J3 League club Gainare Tottori and became a manager. However Gainare results were bad and finished at the bottom place of 17 clubs. He was sacked in June 2018 when the club was at the 7th place.
Statistics.
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