He turns 53, and he can’t play enough! Japanese forward continues to break records
In early 2020, Yokohama FC footballer Kazuyoshi Miura signed a new contract with the club for another season, and in February, he turned 53. Last season, he played five games for Yokohama FC and helped his club advance to Japan’s top division.
“I hope to enjoy playing soccer and remember to be grateful as I make an effort to achieve the club’s goal of staying in the top division. I’ll work hard to contribute to the team’s wins,” Miura said on signing the extension.
The day before, Miura started the match against Sagan Tosu and played as many as 63 minutes. By doing so, he supassed the previous mark set by Yukio Tsuchiya in 2017 for Ventforet Kofu, when he played for Japan’s top division at the age of 42 years, 10 months.
Being the same age as Jurgen Klopp and Roberto Baggio, Miura will see a 35th season in his career, which began back in 1986 in Santos, Brazil, where he moved at the age of 15 to become a professional footballer.
After several seasons in other Brazilian clubs, he returned to Japan, where he became the champion of the country for four years in a row. Then the football player was selected to play for the national team matches.
Miura then became the first Japanese footballer to play in Italy, joining Genoa, and scored one goal, during the Genoa derby against Sampdoria (3: 2). In 1999, Miura became the Champion of Croatia, when he played for Croatsia team (today we know this club as Dynamo Zagreb).
Since the 2000s, Kazuyoshi Miura has been performing at home again, and he has been with Yokohama since 2005. For his current club, the forward played 288 matches and scored 27 goals. The oldest ever football player represented Japan’s national team 89 times, scoring 55 goals.
Now he is playing much less than before, and the last goal was scored back in March 2017. Someday he will be tired with playing, and in future, we will definitely see a film shoot or a book written about his life and career.
