Masahiro Fukuda
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Masahiro Fukuda | ||
| Date of birth | December 27, 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Yokohama, Japan | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1985–1988 | Chuo University | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–2002 | Urawa Reds | 287 | (143) |
| Total | 287 | (143) | |
| National team | |||
| 1990–1995 | Japan | 45 | (9) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Masahiro Fukuda (福田 正博 Fukuda Masahiro?, born December 27, 1966) is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. He was a forward but sometimes played in the midfield.
After studying at and playing for Sagami Institute of Technology High School and Chuo University, he joined Mitsubishi Motors in 1989 and started to play for their football club that played in the Japan Soccer League Division 2. In his rookie season, he scored 36 goals and helped the club to gain the promotion to Division 1.
When Japan's first-ever professional league J1 League started in early 90's, Mitsubishi was transformed to Urawa Red Diamonds. He turned professional and continued to play for the club. He scored his first J1 League goal on June 9, 1993 against Kashima Antlers at Kashima Soccer Stadium. All the Urawa players except the goalkeeper flocked around Fukuda to celebrate the goal. While the celebration was prolonged, the referee signalled the restart and Kashima's Hisashi Kurosaki equalised immediately.
In the 1995 season, Fukuda scored 32 goals that makes him the League's top scorer and a member of the J-League Team of the Year.
Urawa was fighting the relegation battle in the 1998 season. In order to stay up, Urawa needed to win the last match in the normal 90 minutes. J1 League employed extra time with the golden goal rule even for a league match at that time, and 2 points were awarded for an extra win while a regulation win earned 3 points. Urawa failed to win in the 90 minutes and the players fielded for the extra time knowing that they had already been relegated. Fukuda scored the golden goal, which fans now remember as the "saddest golden goal in the world."
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