9 Masashi Oguro Position: MF Born:04-May-1980 Height/Weight:177/71 Birthplace:Osaka Previous Teams:Gamba Osaka Youth, Gamba Osaka, Consadole Sapporo, Gamba Osaka, Grenoble Foot 38 Appearances (J1/J2):115/0 Goals: 48/0 First Appearance: 27-Mar-1999 Gamba Osaka -vs- JEF United (at Ichihara Seaside Stadium) First Goal : 11-Mar-2000 Gamba Osaka -vs- Verdy Kawasaki (at Todoroki Stadium)

J.League Statistics Year Team Matches Goals 1999 Gamba Osaka 11 0 2000 Gamba Osaka 7 1 2001 Consadole Sapporo 4 0 2002 Gamba Osaka 6 1 2003 Gamba Osaka 26 10 2004 Gamba Osaka 30 20 2005 Gamba Osaka 31 16 TOTAL 115 48 SERIE A 2006/07 Torino -- --

Masashi Oguro is a product of the Gamba Osaka youth programme, which turned out a large number of talented players during the late 1990s and early in the new century. Though he is neither particularly tall nor particularly fast, and is only a bit better than mediocre in his passing and dribbling skills, Oguro demonstrated early in his career that he has a talent for finding the net. After four years on the very fringes of his club team, Oguro got his first chance to start regularly in 2003, and he quickly demonstrated the skills that would soon earn him accolades as one of Japan's best strikers.

As noted above, Oguro's physical gifts are not especially impressive, nor is he a technically refined player, like many of the other Japanese stars sho have made the jump to Europe. However, he possesses two natural skills which have allowed him to overcome his mediocre physical traits -- a gift for finding open space, and the ability to find the net from just about any position. In a league like the J.League, where finishing ability is one common weakness, Oguro's quick shot and high accuracy allowed him to finish high in the ranks of J.League scoring leaders for three consecutive seasons, and eventually won him a call to the National Team.

Once again, Oguro seized the opportunity and made the most of it, coming on late in Japan's 2006WC qualification match against North Korea and firing home the winning goal in injury time. He followed that up with another goal against North Korea in the return leg, and scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Greece in the 2005 Confederations Cup. But since the summer of 2005, Oguro slipped into a bit of a scoring drought, for both club and country, and after an impressive start, he seemed to fade out of the NT picture for 2006.

Perhaps in hopes of raising his profile with Zico and improving his chances to be included in the squad for Germany, Oguro jumped at an opportunity to leave Gamba and move to Europe. The club that picked him up was Grenoble Foot 38, a French Division Two team which was purchased a few years ago by Japanese investors, and is run by Kazuyoshi Tanabe, a former coach of the perrennial high school power Toin Gakuen High School. Mr. Tanabe has a long career in the coaching ranks, and even was a part of Sweden's coaching staff for the 2002 World Cup.

However, while the Japanese interests in the club may have made it easier for a Japanese player to get a foot in the door, Oguro failed to really impress his club, who are eager to progress to Division 1, and quickly started looking for more experienced and "proven" strikers. Oguro found himself on the firnges of the squad, and when an opportunity to move to Serie A to play for the recently promoted Torino, he jumped at the chance.

As we noted when he made the move to Grenoble, as a dedicated striker, Oguro probably is not talented enough to play more than a bit role in Europe. On the other hand, he does have a lot of energy and good movement of the ball, as well as rather good defensive instincts for a striker. For a team like Torino, which will probably adopt a very defensive formation most of the time, he may be able to work his way into the lineup in a position midway between midfield and the lone striker. From a long term perspective, Oguro is probably no worse off than he would be back in Japan, though in the short term he probably will not see as much playing time. We will be watching to see how he settles in with his new team, and hope that after a few months, he can find a spot in the lineup.

National Team Data & History
NT Caps: 15 NT Goals: 5 Tournaments: Athens Olympics (2004) Confederations Cup (2005) World Cup Qualifiers (2005) FIFA World Cup Germany (2006)
Date	Vs.	Score	Location	Status	Min.	G
1-29-2005	Kazakhstan	4-0	Yokohama Intl	Sub	15	0
2-9-2005	North Korea	2-1	Saitama Stadium	Sub	12	1
3-25-2005	Iran	1-2	Azadi Stadium, Iran	Sub	8	0
5-22-2005	Peru	0-1	Niigata Stadium	Sub	37	0
5-27-2005	UAE	0-1	National Std. Tokyo	Start	90	0
6-8-2005	North Korea	2-0	Bangkok Thailand	Sub	45	1
6-15-2005	Mexico	1-2	Hannover, Germany	Sub	22	0
6-19-2005	Greece	1-0	Frankfurt, Germany	Sub	34	1
6-22-2005	Brazil	2-2	Koln, Germany	Sub	45	1
7-31-2005	North Korea	0-1	Daejon, Korea	Start	90	0
8-03-2005	China	2-2	Daejon, Korea	Sub	24	0
8-07-2005	Korea	1-0	Daejon, Korea	Sub	12	0
8-17-2005	Iran	2-1	Yokohama Stadium	Start	90	0
9-07-2005	Honduras	5-4	Miyagi Stadium	Sub	12	0
11-12-2005	Angola	1-0	Natl Stadium, Tokyo	Sub	11	1
2-28-2006	<Bosnia	2-2	Westfahren Std.(Germany)	Sub	7	0
6-3-2006	Germany	2-2	Kaiserslautern, Germany	Sub	12	0
6-6-2006	Malta	1-0	Frankenstadion, Germany	Start	69	0
6-11-2006	Australia	1-3	Kaiserslautern, Germany	Sub	1	0
6-18-2006	Croatia	0-0	Frankfurt, Germany	Sub	5	0
6-22-2006	Brazil	1-4	Dortmund, Germany	Sub	24	0