is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

of Luverdense and former player who played as a forward. Born in Brazil, Lopes is a naturalised Japanese citizen and represented their national team on 20 occasions. After retiring he took up coaching mainly working in both his home and footballing countries.

Club career

Lopes was born in

Franca Franca is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northeastern portion of the state, distant 401 km (249 mi) from the state capital São Paulo, and 676 km (420 mi) from Brasilia. It covers a total area of 60 ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

and represented

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

as a youth. In 1987, after two years as a senior, he moved to Japan and signed with

Japan Soccer League ; JSL) was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...

club

Nissan Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and '' Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house performance tuning ...

. From 1988 to 1990, the club won all three major titles in Japan;

JSL Cup was the original league cup for clubs in the Japan Soccer League, the top level of Japanese football before the creation of the J. League and its cup. The cup was first played in 1973, but only become an annual tournament in 1976. The JSL Cup ...

and

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

two consecutive seasons. Lopes moved to

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

(later ''Kashiwa Reysol'') in 1990. In 1992, Japan Soccer League was folded and the club joined the new

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

(JFL). The club won 2nd place in 1994 and secured promotion to the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

. In 1994, after Kashiwa signed

Müller Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

, Lopes left the club. He joined JFL club

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

in 1995 where he was top scorer for two consecutive seasons (

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

). He moved to J1 League club

Bellmare Hiratsuka is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuk ...

in 1997, playing with

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Considered one of the best talents to come from an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) country in the early late 1990s and early 2000s, Nakata became ...

and scoring regularly. However, he left the club end of 1998 season due to financial strain and moved to

Nagoya Grampus Eight ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

, winning the

1999 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1999 season. Overview It was contested by 80 teams, and Nagoya Grampus Eight won the championship. Results First round *Juntendo University 2–0 Aichi Gakuin University * Tochigi SC 0–2 Júbilo Iwata Yout ...

. Toward the end of his career, Lopes played for

FC Tokyo , commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. From 2025, FC Tokyo is one of the few J.League clubs to be simply called ''Footb ...

(2001) and

Avispa Fukuoka is a Japanese professional football club based in Hakata, Fukuoka. They currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. History Earlier years in Fujieda The club were originally based in Fujieda, Shizu ...

(2001–02). He retired at the end of the 2002 season.

International career

In September 1997, Lopes obtained Japanese citizenship. Immediately after this, he was called up to the Japan national team for the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. On 28 September, he made his national team debut against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Lopes went on to play six games and scored three goals to help Japan qualify for their first-ever

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. At the 1998 World Cup, he played all three matches, assisting

Masashi Nakayama , nicknamed "Gon" during his playing career, is a Japanese professional football manager and former player. He was the J.League Most Valuable Player in 1998, J.League Top Scorer in 1998 and 2000, and J.League Best XI in 1997, 1998, 2000, 20 ...

in Japan's first-ever World Cup goal against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. He also played at the 1999 Copa America and scored twice. Lopes played 20 games and scored five goals for Japan until 1999.Japan National Football Team Database
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Managerial career

Lopes started his career as Vágner Mancini's assistant at

Paulista Paulista is a municipality in Pernambuco, Brazil, with a population of 334,376 as of 2020. It has the highest Human Development Index (HDI) of the Recife metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of footballer Rivaldo and is also famous for its be ...

in 2005, helping the club win their first-ever national title, the 2005 Copa do Brasil. He left the club in 2007 due to health problems, but returned in December 2009. Initially an interim for the 2010 season, he was definitely appointed manager on 23 February. In May, he resigned and was subsequently appointed manager of Pão de Açúcar Esporte Clube. Lopes returned to Paulista in 2011, winning the year's

Copa Paulista The Copa Paulista de Futebol, formerly known as Copa FPF, also sometimes called Copa Federação Paulista de Futebol or, in English, São Paulo State Cup, is a tournament organized by Federação Paulista de Futebol Company every second half of ...

before returning to Japan and being named

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

's assistant manager in 2012. In October 2012, he was presented as manager of Comercial-SP manager for the ensuing campaign. In that season, he also managed São Bernardo. In the 2014 campaign, Lopes was in charge of

Botafogo-SP Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP or Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as ...

Criciúma Criciúma () is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home material ...

and

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

. In the following year, he took over

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

and Bragantino.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

São Paulo *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

: 1985, 1987 Nissan Motors *

: 1988–89, 1989–90 *

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Nagoya Grampus *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Manager

Paulista *

: 2011 Atlético Goianiense *

Campeonato Goiano The Campeonato Goiano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders th ...

: 2019

Individual

*Asian Goal of the Month: November 1997

Notes

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Wagner 1969 births Living people Brazilian emigrants to Japan Japanese men's footballers Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Japanese football managers Japanese expatriate football managers Naturalized citizens of Japan Japan men's international footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate football managers in Brazil Footballers from Franca Men's association football forwards Japan Soccer League players J1 League players J2 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players 20th-century Japanese sportsmen 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers J1 League managers São Paulo FC players Yokohama F. Marinos players Kashiwa Reysol players Honda FC players Shonan Bellmare players Nagoya Grampus players FC Tokyo players Avispa Fukuoka players Paulista Futebol Clube managers Grêmio Osasco Audax Esporte Clube managers Comercial Futebol Clube (Ribeirão Preto) managers São Bernardo Futebol Clube managers Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) managers Criciúma Esporte Clube managers Atlético Clube Goianiense managers Clube Atlético Bragantino managers Goiás Esporte Clube managers Sampaio Corrêa Futebol Clube managers Paraná Clube managers Vila Nova Futebol Clube managers Albirex Niigata managers Esporte Clube Vitória managers PSS Sleman managers Liga 1 (Indonesia) managers Expatriate football managers in Indonesia Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Naturalised association football players Clube Recreativo e Atlético Catalano managers 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen