“King Kazu” Miura, World’s Oldest Footballer 〜 Legendary soccer player in Japan
Kazuyoshi Miura often known simply as Kazu, is a Japanese footballer who plays as a forward for Yokohama FC in the J2 League (2006〜). He played for the Japanese national team from 1990 to 2000, and was the first Japanese recipient (受賞者) of the Asian Footballer of the Year award in 1993.
Miura, whose rise to fame in Japan coincided with (~と同時だった) the launch of the J. League in 1993, was arguably (おそらく) Japan’s first superstar in football.
The goalscoring prowess (得点能力) that he displayed earlier in his career tempted Genoa to take him to Italy in 1994, which in turn made him the first Japanese football to ever appear in Serie A. He struggled to adapt to life in Europe, though, and soon returned to his homeland after a brief stint(簡単な任務の後) in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb.
Even so, his problems in Italy shouldn’t impact on his standing where Japanese football is concerned. He is their second leading goalscorer with 55 to his name. It’s a haul (距離) that included 12 during the qualification stages for the 1998 World Cup.
In 1982, he left his high school after less than a year, and travelled alone to Brazil at the age of fifteen to become a professional footballer there. He signed with a youth club in São Paulo, and in 1986, he signed his first professional contract with Santos.
And then, he played for several other Brazilian clubs until his return to Japan in 1990. His time in Brazil elevated him to star status and on his return to Japan. Then, he was named the first J.League Most Valuable Player in 1993 and the last unofficial Asian Footballer of the year in 1993.
Miura then became the first Japanese footballer to play in Italy, joining Genoain the 1994–95 Serie A season. After that, he returned to Verdy Kawasaki for the 1995 season and played with them until the end of the 1998 season. He made another attempt at playing in Europe with Dinamo Zagreb in 1999.
After playing for Kyoto Purple Sanga, Vissel Kobe, he signed with Yokohama FC in 2005. Now, he became the oldest ever player to feature in a professional match and became the oldest goalscorer in professional football.
In 1990, he was named as part of the Japan squad for the 1990 Asian Games. In 1992, he played at the 1992 Asian Cup, which Japan went on to win. In the 1994 World Cup qualification, he played thirteen games and scored thirteen goals. However, Japan failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.
He also played at the 1994 Asian Games, the 1995 King Fahd Cup and the 1996 Asian Cup. In 1997, he scored fourteen times for Japan during qualification for the 1998 World Cup, leading the Samurai Blue to their first ever World Cup finals. Despite this, he was controversially (議論を伴って) left out of the squad.
《 Futsal 》
In 2012, and at the age of 45, he made his debut for the Japan Futsal team.In the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup, heappeared in all four matches for Japan.
“King Kazu” Miura, World’s Oldest Footballer, turns 52 in 2019
Miura holds the records for being the oldest footballer and oldest goalscorer in worldwide professional leagues at the age of 52. His elder brother Yasutoshi was also a professional footballer. The phrase “age is just a number” is thrown around a lot but when it comes to Japanese player Kazuyoshi Miura, it really does ring true.
Now into his 34th season as a professional footballer, ‘King Kazu’ is celebrating his 52nd birthday. Often footballers play into their late 30s and 40s but Miura, the oldest player to ever take part in a professional football game, is really in uncharted waters (未知の海に).
Starting his career all the way back in 1986 when Lionel Richie was number one in the charts, he scored 55 goals in 89 games for Japan and turned out for clubs such as Santos, Genoa, Dinamo Zagreb and Sydney FC.
The only player active from when the J League was formed in 1993, he has been with Yokohama FC since 2005 and signed a contract extension (延長) with the club.
“Thanks to everyone who always supports. I am grateful to everyone.”
“I think that I want to go face to face with football and go to daily training with maximum power.”