Takashi Hirano

{{short description|Japanese footballer}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Takashi Hirano<br/>平野孝 | image = Takashi-Hirano.jpg | upright = 0.9 | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1974|7|15}} | birth_place = Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan | death_date = | death_place = | height = 1.80 m | position = Midfielder | currentclub = | youthyears1 = 1990–1992 | youthclubs1 = Shimizu Shogyo High School | years1 = 1993–2000 | clubs1 = Nagoya Grampus Eight | caps1 = 222 | goals1 = 43 | years2 = 2000 | clubs2 = Kyoto Purple Sanga | caps2 = 5 | goals2 = 1 | years3 = 2001 | clubs3 = Júbilo Iwata | caps3 = 3 | goals3 = 1 | years4 = 2002 | clubs4 = Vissel Kobe | caps4 = 28 | goals4 = 1 | years5 = 2003–2005 | clubs5 = Tokyo Verdy | caps5 = 80 | goals5 = 8 | years6 = 2006 | clubs6 = Yokohama F. Marinos | caps6 = 9 | goals6 = 0 | years7 = 2007 | clubs7 = Omiya Ardija | caps7 = 3 | goals7 = 1 | years8 = 2008–2010 | clubs8 = Vancouver Whitecaps | caps8 = 65 | goals8 = 1 | totalcaps = 415 | totalgoals = 56 | nationalyears1 = 1997–2000 | nationalteam1 = Japan | nationalcaps1 = 15 | nationalgoals1 = 4 | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Team|Nagoya Grampus Eight}} {{Medal|RU|J1 League|1996}} {{Medal|W|Emperor's Cup|1995}} {{Medal|W|Emperor's Cup|1999}} {{Medal|Team|Júbilo Iwata}} {{Medal|RU|J1 League|2001}} {{Medal|RU|J.League Cup|2001}} {{Medal|Team|Tokyo Verdy}} {{Medal|W|Emperor's Cup|2004}} }} {{Nihongo|'''Takashi Hirano'''|平野孝|Hirano Takashi|born July 15, 1974}} is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for the Japan national team.

==Club career== Hirano attended Shimizu Shogyo High School, where he won the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament in 1991.

Hirano began his professional career in the J1 League in 1993, with Nagoya Grampus Eight, winning the Emperor's Cup in 1995 and 1999 and the Japanese Super Cup in 1996, and scoring 43 goals in 213 appearances for the team. He transferred to Kyoto Purple Sanga in 2000, and although his team won promotion from the J2 League in 2001, he played just 5 league games before moving on to Júbilo Iwata.

After brief and largely unremarkable stints at Vissel Kobe, Tokyo Verdy, Yokohama F. Marinos and Omiya Ardija, Hirano moved to North America and signed for Vancouver Whitecaps in the USL First Division in 2008.

On September 30, 2008, Hirano was called up to the USL First Division All-League Team,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/281332.html|title=USL-1 All-League Teams announced|date=September 30, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603025147/http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/281332.html|archivedate=June 3, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> and on October 12, 2008, helped the Whitecaps capture their second USL First Division Championship by beating the Puerto Rico Islanders 2–1 in the USL1 Championship game.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Vancouver Whitecaps FC|url=http://www.whitecapsfc.com/schedule/match10120801.aspx|title=Schedule|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603025147/http://www.whitecapsfc.com/schedule/match10120801.aspx|archivedate=June 3, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On January 20, 2009 the Whitecaps announced a contract extension for Hirano for the 2009 season.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://usl1.uslsoccer.com/transactions/300972.html|title=Whitecaps re-sign Hirano, Lyall|date=January 20, 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603025147/http://usl1.uslsoccer.com/transactions/300972.html|archivedate=June 3, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Hirano announced his retirement from the game in January 2011.

==International career== Hirano played for the Japan U-20 national team, which competed at the 1992 AFC Youth Championship.

On June 8, 1997, he debuted and scored a goal for Japan national team against Croatia. He also participated in the 1998 World Cup qualification in 1997. In 1998, he was selected for Japan's squad in the 1998 World Cup, playing two games as a substitute. He played 15 games and scored 4 goals for Japan until 2000.<ref name="JNFTD">[http://www.jfootball-db.com/en/players/hirano_takashi.html Japan National Football Team Database]</ref>

==Career statistics==

===Club=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup{{efn|Includes Emperor's Cup, Open Cup}} !colspan="2"|League cup{{efn|Includes J.League Cup}} !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="9"|Nagoya Grampus Eight |1993 |rowspan="8"|J1 League |19||4||3||1||3||1||25||6 |- |1994 |36||4||2||0||1||0||39||4 |- |1995 |50||9||5||2||colspan="2"|–||55||11 |- |1996 |29||7||0||0||14||5||43||12 |- |1997 |21||4||1||0||6||3||28||7 |- |1998 |30||8||4||0||0||0||34||8 |- |1999 |28||7||5||1||6||2||39||10 |- |2000 |9||0||0||0||0||0||9||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !222!!43!!20!!4!!30!!11!!272!!58 |- |Kyoto Purple Sanga |2000 |J1 League |7||1||1||0||4||0||12||1 |- |Júbilo Iwata |2001 |J1 League |3||0||1||0||0||0||4||0 |- |Vissel Kobe |2002 |J1 League |28||1||1||0||5||0||34||1 |- |rowspan="4"|Tokyo Verdy |2003 |rowspan="3"|J1 League |25||4||3||1||5||0||33||5 |- |2004 |28||4||1||0||7||1||36||5 |- |2005 |27||0||1||1||6||0||34||1 |- !colspan="2"|Total !80!!8!!5!!2!!18!!1!!103!!11 |- |Yokohama F. Marinos |2006 |J1 League |9||0||0||0||6||0||15||0 |- |Omiya Ardija |2007 |J1 League |3||1||1||0||0||0||4||1 |- |rowspan="4"|Vancouver Whitecaps |2008 |rowspan="2"|USL First Division |22||1||||||||||22||1 |- |2009 |28||0||||||||||28||0 |- |2010 |D2 Pro League |15||0||||||||||15||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !65!!1!!!!!!!!!!65!!1 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !417!!55!!29!!6!!63!!12!!509!!73 |}

===International=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref name="JNFTD"/> |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="4"|Japan |1997||5||1 |- |1998||7||2 |- |1999||0||0 |- |2000||3||1 |- !colspan="2"|Total!!15!!4 |}

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

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ List of international goals scored by Takashi Hirano |- !scope="col"|No. !scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Venue !scope="col"|Opponent !scope="col"|Score !scope="col"|Result !scope="col"|Competition |- | align="center"|1 || 8 June 1997 || Tokyo, Japan || {{fb|CRO}} || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|4–3 ||1997 Kirin Cup |- | align="center"|2 || rowspan="2"|15 February 1998 || rowspan="2"|Adelaide, Australia || rowspan="2"|{{fb|AUS}} || align="center"|2–0 || rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–0 ||rowspan="2"|Friendly |- | align="center"|3 || align="center"|3–0 |- | align="center"|4 || 16 February 2000 || Macau, China || {{fb|BRU}} || align="center"|6–0 || align="center"|9–0 ||2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification |}

==Honors== '''Nagoya Grampus Eight''' * Emperor's Cup: 1995, 1999 * Japanese Super Cup: 1996

'''Tokyo Verdy 1969''' * Emperor's Cup: 2004 * Japanese Super Cup: 2005

'''Vancouver Whitecaps''' * USL First Division Championship: 2008 *Vancouver Whitecaps Outstanding Defender: 2009<ref>[http://www.whitecapsfc.com/archive/feature09240901.aspx 2009 Whitecaps men's team awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912120128/http://www.whitecapsfc.com/archive/feature09240901.aspx |date=2010-09-12 }}</ref> *Vancouver Whitecaps Newcomer of the Year: 2008

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{FIFA player|156043}} *{{NFT player|10759}} *[http://www.jfootball-db.com/en/players/hirano_takashi.html Japan National Football Team Database] *{{J.League player|305}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100129173826/http://www.whitecapsfc.com/men/roster/players/takashi_hirano.aspx Vancouver Whitecaps bio]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirano, Takashi}} Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese men's footballers Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Japan men's international footballers Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players Category:J1 League players Category:USL First Division players Category:USSF Division 2 Professional League players Category:Nagoya Grampus players Category:Kyoto Sanga FC players Category:Júbilo Iwata players Category:Vissel Kobe players Category:Tokyo Verdy players Category:Yokohama F. Marinos players Category:RB Omiya Ardija players Category:Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Category:Japanese expatriate men's footballers Category:Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Canada Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Category:Football people from Shizuoka (city) Category:20th-century Japanese sportsmen