George Yonashiro

George Yonashiro is a former football player and manager. Born in Brazil, he played for the Japan national team.

Club career

Yonashiro was born in São Paulo, Brazil on November 28, 1950. He joined Japan Soccer League Division 2 club Yomiuri in 1972. The club was promoted to Division 1 in 1978. In 1979, the club won first title JSL Cup. The club won the league champions in 1983, 1984. The club also won 1984 Emperor's Cup and 1985 JSL Cup. He retired in 1986. He played 239 games and scored 93 goals in the league. He was selected Best Eleven 5 times.

In January 1985, Yonashiro was approved for naturalisation as a Japanese citizen by the Ministry of Justice. In October, when he was 34 years old, he was selected to the Japan national team for the 1986 World Cup qualification. At this competition, on October 26, he debuted against South Korea. He played two games for Japan in 1985.

Yonashiro began his managerial career with Yomiuri in 1986, leading the club to the 1986–87 Japan Soccer League title, consecutive Emperor's Cup victories in 1986 and 1987, and the 1987 Asian Club Championship before resigning in 1990. He later managed Kyoto Purple Sanga twice, first in 1994 as successor to Seishiro Shimatani, and again in 1996 following Oscar. In 2004, Yonashiro took charge of FC Ryukyu, guiding the team from the Prefectural Leagues to the Regional Leagues in 2005 and the Japan Football League in 2006. He then joined Giravanz Kitakyushu in 2007, overseeing promotions to the Japan Football League in 2008 and the J2 League in 2010, before stepping down at the end of that season. His final managerial post came with Blaublitz Akita in 2013, where he achieved promotion to the newly established J3 League in 2014. He resigned later that year.