# Toshihide Saito

Toshihide Saito (斉藤 俊秀, Saitō Toshihide, born April 20, 1973) is a Japanese former football player and manager. He currently works as an assistant coach for the Japan national team.

## Club career

Saito was born in Shizuoka on April 20, 1973. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined his local club Shimizu S-Pulse in 1996. He played as regular player from first season. At 1996 J.League Cup, the club won the champions and he was selected New Hero awards. End of 1996 season, he was also selected J.League Rookie of the Year awards. The club also won the 2nd place at 1998 Emperor's Cup and 1999 J1 League, he was also selected Best Eleven in 1999. In 2000s, the club won 1999–2000 Asian Cup Winners' Cup and 2001 Emperor's Cup. In 2006, he moved to J2 League club Shonan Bellmare and played in two seasons. In 2009, he was appointed playing manager of Prefectural Leagues side Fujieda MYFC. After promotion to the Japan Football League in 2011 and acceptance into J3 League for the 2014 season, Saito decided to leave the club.

## International career

Saito was capped 17 times for the Japan national team between 1996 and 1999. His first international appearance came on August 25, 1996, in a friendly against Uruguay at Osaka Nagai Stadium. He was an unused substitute at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He also played at 1999 Copa América.

## Career statistics
### Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Emperor's Cup | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | J.League Cup | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1996 | J1 League | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 48 | 2 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1997 | J1 League | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1998 | J1 League | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1999 | J1 League | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2000 | J1 League | 28 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 39 | 3 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2001 | J1 League | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2002 | J1 League | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2003 | J1 League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2004 | J1 League | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 3 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2005 | J1 League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 35 | 1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2006 | J1 League | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 2007 | J2 League | 46 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 48 | 4 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 2008 | J2 League | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 39 | 0 |
| Fujieda MYFC | 2009 | Prefectural Leagues | 11 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 11 | 3 |
| Fujieda MYFC | 2010 | Regional Leagues | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 15 | 2 |
| Fujieda MYFC | 2011 | Regional Leagues | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 |
| Fujieda MYFC | 2012 | Football League | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 |
| Fujieda MYFC | 2013 | Football League | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 385 | 26 | 28 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 459 | 27 |

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Japan | 1996 | 2 | 0 |
| Japan | 1997 | 7 | 0 |
| Japan | 1998 | 4 | 0 |
| Japan | 1999 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 17 | 0 |

## Honors

* Emperor's Cup: 2001
* J - League Cup: 1996
* Japanese Super Cup: 2001, 2002
* Asian Cup Winner's Cup: 2000
Individual
* J.League Rookie of the Year: 1996
* J.League Best XI: 1999