is a former

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager.

Playing career

Sakuma was born in Tokyo on July 7, 1963. After graduating from

Komazawa University , abbreviated as 駒大 ''Komadai'', is one of the oldest universities in Japan. Its history starts in 1592, when a seminary was established to be a center of learning for the young monks of the Sōtō sect, one of the two main Zen Buddhist trad ...

, he played for NTT Kanto until 1991.

Coaching career

After retirement, Sakuma became coach at NTT Kanto (later ''Omiya Ardija'') in 1991. In August 2007, manager

Robert Verbeek Robert Verbeek (born 26 July 1961) is a Dutch former soccer player and subsequently a manager. He currently coaches the first football squad of RV & AV Sparta. Verbeek is the younger brother of former Oman manager Pim Verbeek. As a player, he feat ...

was sacked for poor performance when Ardija was at the 16th place of 18 clubs. Sakuma became a new manager as Verbeek successor. He managed until end of the season and Ardija finished at 15th place and remaining in J1 League. In October 2008, he moved to

Ventforet Kofu is a Japanese football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League and play their home games in JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu. The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French roo ...

and became a general manager. In August 2011, manager

Toshiya Miura is a former Japanese football player and manager. Playing career Miura was born in Kamaishi on July 16, 1963. After graduating from Komazawa University, he played for his local club Morioka Zebra and Nippon Steel Kamaishi. Coaching career Japan ...

was sacked for poor performance. Sakuma became anew manager as Miura successor. However Ventforet results were bad and was relegated to J2. Sakuma returned to general manager from 2012. In May 2015, manager

Yasuhiro Higuchi is a former Japanese football player and manager. He is currently manager of Veertien Mie. Playing career Higuchi was born in Mie Prefecture on May 5, 1961. After graduating from high school, he played for Nissan Motors from 1980 to 1984. Coach ...

was sacked and Sakuma became a manager again. He managed until end of 2016 season.

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
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References

External links

* 1963 births Living people Komazawa University alumni Association football people from Tokyo Japanese men's footballers Japan Soccer League players Omiya Ardija players Japanese football managers J1 League managers Omiya Ardija managers Ventforet Kofu managers Men's association football defenders {{Japan-footy-defender-1960s-stub