Sadao Furunuma’s Coaching Wisdom Reveals the Secret Behind a Team’s Success

The training environment was far from ideal, as the team had to share a narrow field with the baseball team, making it uncertain whether they could even secure a full soccer pitch. However, Furunuma turned this disadvantage into an advantage. “Since we couldn’t practice in a full game format, we dedicated 70% of our training to shooting drills,” he explained.

“We practiced shooting from all angles—left, right, front, back, and diagonally. Even if a shot missed, there was a wall right behind the goal, so we didn’t waste time retrieving the ball and could maximize our training efficiency. After winning the national championship, we played practice matches against corporate teams like Furukawa Electric and Hitachi, and they would often praise us, saying, ‘Teikyo players are really good at shooting.'”

Spectacular goals were simply the result of dedicated practice

Teikyo displayed exceptional strength at the National Stadium, where the semifinals and finals of the championship were held, and this was no coincidence. In the 62nd tournament final in 1984, they secured a 1-0 victory over Shimizu Higashi, which featured future Japan national team players such as Kenta Hasegawa (59). Despite being on the defensive, Osamu Maeda (59, former Yokohama F. player) scored a spectacular goal, striking a long cross from the left rear directly into the net—a goal that was the product of dedicated practice.

By aligning the positioning of Teikyo’s goal with the angle of sunlight at the National Stadium, players became accustomed to recognizing the goal’s location without looking directly at it.

“Humans perform best in environments that closely resemble what they are used to.”

[Part 2] Sadao Furunuma, Former Teikyo High School Soccer Coach, Talks About His Connections with Noritake Kinashi and Machida Zelvia’s Coach Tsuyoshi Kuroda.

From the February 21-28, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”