Yuji Hironaga

is a former Japanese football player.

Biography
Hironaga was born in Osaka Prefecture on July 25, 1975. After graduating from Toin Gakuen High School, he joined Verdy Kawasaki (later Tokyo Verdy) in 1994. He played as defensive midfielder and center back. In 1994, the club won the championships for the J1 League and J.League Cup. He moved to his local club Gamba Osaka in 1998. He played many matches at Gamba, and returned to Verdy in June 1999. He played as a forward as well as a midfielder. His opportunity to play decreased in 2001 and he moved to the J2 League club Yokohama FC. He played many matches as defensive midfielder. He moved to Cerezo Osaka in 2003. He retired at the end of the 2004 season.

In July 1996, Hironaga was selected the Japan U-23 national team for 1996 Summer Olympics. At this tournament, he played 2 matches as defensive midfielder. Although Japan won 2 matches, Japan lost at First round. At this time, Japan won Brazil in first game. It was known as "Miracle of Miami" (マイアミの奇跡) in Japan.

Statistics

|-
|1994||rowspan="4"|Verdy Kawasaki||rowspan="4"|J1 League||18||1||2||0||3||0||23||1
|-
|1995||9||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||11||0
|-
|1996||8||0||0||0||4||0||12||0
|-
|1997||18||0||1||0||5||0||24||0
|-
|1998||rowspan="2"|Gamba Osaka||rowspan="2"|J1 League||26||3||1||1||2||0||29||4
|-
|1999||7||1||0||0||4||0||11||1
|-
|1999||rowspan="2"|Verdy Kawasaki||rowspan="2"|J1 League||5||0||0||0||0||0||5||0
|-
|2000||24||2||2||0||3||1||29||3
|-
|2001||Tokyo Verdy||J1 League||9||0||0||0||2||0||11||0
|-
|2002||Yokohama FC||J2 League||32||5||3||0||colspan="2"|-||35||5
|-
|2003||rowspan="2"|Cerezo Osaka||rowspan="2"|J1 League||19||0||0||0||3||0||22||0
|-
|2004||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0
175||12||11||1||26||1||212||14
175||12||11||1||26||1||212||14
|}

References

Other websites

Category:1975 births
Category:Living people
Category:Footballers from Osaka Prefecture
Category:J1 League players
Category:J2 League players
Category:Tokyo Verdy players
Category:Gamba Osaka players
Category:Yokohama FC players
Category:Cerezo Osaka players
Category:Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics