Wagner Augusto Lopes(呂比須 ワグナー, Ropesu Wagunā; born 29 January 1969) is a football coach of Luverdense and former player who played as a forward. Born in Brazil, he played for the Japan national team on 20 occasions.

Club career

Lopes with Nissan Motors

Lopes was born in Franca, São Paulo and represented São Paulo FC as a youth. In 1987, after two years as a senior, he moved to Japan and signed with Japan Soccer League club Nissan Motors. From 1988 to 1990, the club won all three major titles in Japan; Japan Soccer League, JSL Cup and Emperor's Cup two consecutive seasons.

Lopes moved to Hitachi (later Kashiwa Reysol) in 1990. In 1992, Japan Soccer League was folded and the club joined the new Japan Football League (JFL). The club won 2nd place in 1994 and secured promotion to the J1 League.

In 1994, after Kashiwa signed Müller, Lopes left the club. He joined JFL club Honda in 1995 where he was top scorer for two consecutive seasons (1995-1996). He moved to J1 League club Bellmare Hiratsuka in 1997, playing with Hidetoshi Nakata and scoring regularly. However, he left the club end of 1998 season due to financial strain and moved to Nagoya Grampus Eight, winning the 1999 Emperor's Cup.

Toward the end of his career, Lopes played for FC Tokyo (2001) and Avispa Fukuoka (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.

Lopes went on to play six games and scored three goals to help Japan qualify for their first-ever FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, he played all three matches, assisting Masashi Nakayama in Japan's first-ever World Cup goal against Jamaica. He also played at the 1999 Copa America and scored twice.

Lopes played 20 games and scored five goals for Japan until 1999.

Managerial career

Lopes started his career as Vágner Mancini's assistant at Paulista 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 before returning to Japan and being named Gamba Osaka'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, Criciúma and Atlético Goianiense. In the following year, he took over Goiás and Bragantino.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueState LeagueNational cupLeague cupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
São Paulo1985Série A00000000
19860010100101
198700400040
Total0014100141
Nissan Motors1987–88JSL Division 1218218
1988–89153153
1989–9013140171
Total491200405312
Kashiwa Reysol1990–91JSL Division 22333102433
1991–92JSL Division 120434238
1992Football League1713-1713
1993181800001818
1994181700101917
Total9685005410189
Honda1995Football League303110-3131
1996303621-3237
Total606731006368
Bellmare Hiratsuka1997J1 League271834683630
1998291820003118
Total563654686748
Nagoya Grampus Eight1999J1 League231352643419
2000281011403311
Total5123631046730
FC Tokyo2001J1 League1030024127
Avispa Fukuoka2001J1 League87000087
2002J2 League19620-216
Total271320002913
Career total3492391411682316402264

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan199763
199870
199972
Total205

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

List of international goals scored by Wagner Lopes
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
111 October 1997Tashkent, UzbekistanUzbekistan1–11–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification
226 October 1997Tokyo, JapanUnited Arab Emirates1–01–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification
31 November 1997Seoul, South KoreaSouth Korea2–02–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification
429 June 1999Asunción, ParaguayPeru1–02–31999 Copa América
55 July 1999Pedro Juan Caballero, ParaguayBolivia1–11–11999 Copa América

Managerial statistics

TeamFromToRecord
GWDLWin %
Albirex Niigata20172017236512026.09
Total236512026.09

Honours

Player

São Paulo

Nissan Motors

Nagoya Grampus

Manager

Paulista

Atlético Goianiense

Individual

  • Asian Goal of the Month: November 1997

Notes

External links

  • FIFA competition record (archived)
  • at National-Football-Teams.com
  • at J.League () (in Japanese)
  • at J.League () (in Japanese)