, born 21 January 1986) is a Brazilian-born

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...

player who plays as a defender. He is the captain and briefly the head coach of the Japanese national team, having gained Japanese citizenship in 2012. He won the Silver and Golden Balls at

FIFA World Cups FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French language, French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsa ...

and is known as one of the best defenders in beach soccer history.Ozu, um 'samurai' de Copacabana que sonha ser campeão mundial
SAPO, 8 July 2015 (in Portuguese). He is particularly known for his towering presence and powerful long-range free kicks. In 2019, he became the first Japanese player to score over 100 international goals.

Biography

Early life

Ozu was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and began playing beach soccer aged six on the beaches of Copacabana, growing up playing with future members of the Brazil national team including Rafinha, Bokinha and Mauricinho.Ozu: “I want to take Japan to a World Cup title"
Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 December 2019. Aged 10, Ozu's beach soccer school accepted an invite to play an

exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

before a Brazil match at Copacabana arena which was watched by 5,000 people. As a child, Ozu played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

including joining

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

aged 14師はラモス瑠偉。Ｗ杯３回出場の茂怜羅オズはなぜ日本を選んだのか
Sportiva. 8 March 2019. (in Japanese). and was scouted on numerous occasionsリオ生まれの日本代表キャプテン、ビーチサッカー・茂怜羅オズとは何者か
Sportiva. 4 December 2016. (in Japanese). but living minutes from the beach and watching beach soccer regularly on TV was the inspiration for Ozu to decide to pursue becoming a beach soccer professional, aged 16. In 2004, at 18, he signed his first beach soccer contract, with

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Becoming Japanese

Ozu has stated that he never had the ambition to play for the Brazil national team. Instead, his dream was to live abroad, learn about a new culture and compete as a beach soccer player there.Ozu: I turned down Brazil because I fell in love with Japan
FIFA.com. 31 October 2019. In 2006, he moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and briefly played there. In 2007, aged 21, he accepted an offer to play for Lequios in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Japan. Despite having no experience with Japanese culture, he immediately adapted to the way of life and, thanks to his experience of the cordiality of the

Japanese people The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上は，旧石器時代あるいは縄文時代以来，現在の北海道〜沖縄諸島（南西諸島）に住んだ集団を祖先にもつ人々。" () Jap ...

, fell in love with the country. In 2009, Lequios relocated from Okinawa to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and Ozu followed suit. There, he met with fellow Brazilian and naturalised Japanese,

Ruy Ramos is a former football player and manager, originally from Brazil, who spent his career in Japan and played for the Japan national team. Ramos is currently active as a television personality and ''tarento'', represented with Irving. Club car ...

, then coach of the Japanese national team. In spite of offers to play for Brazil, Ozu expressed to Ramos his desire to also gain

Japanese citizenship Japanese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of Japan. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the 1950 Nationality Act. Children born to at least one Japanese parent are generally automatical ...

so that he could play for Japan, the country of his "heart". Ramos decided to help him. Ozu subsequently learnt to be fluent in the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...

and after five mandatory years of living in Japan, he acquired citizenship on 12 December 2012 and dropped the name of Osmar for Ozu; he was immediately called up to the Japanese national team.

Career as Japanese international

At his first international tournament, the

2013 AFC Beach Soccer Championship The 2013 AFC Beach Soccer Championship was a continental beach soccer tournament which took place from 22 to 26 January 2013, at a temporary stadium and adjacent pitch on the Katara Beach in Doha, Qatar. The stadium will have a capacity of 3,000 s ...

, he was crowned best playerOzu Moreira: Asian game has more depth than ever
Asian Football Confederation. 9 March 2019. and later in the year led his new country as captain to the quarter-finals of the

2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Overall, this was the 17th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the ''Beach Soccer World Championships'' which ran from ...

, his first World Cup, in which he won the Silver Ball (second best player) award. The inaugural

Beach Soccer Stars Beach Soccer Stars is an annual award ceremony in beach soccer organised by the sport's developmental body, Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW). The first edition was held on 7 November 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The ceremony has continued t ...

awards in 2014 saw Ozu named as part of the best team of the year, an accomplishment he has achieved again every since bar one as of 2019, cementing his position as one of the world's best players.Japan Beach Soccer National Team's MOREIRA Ozu named as the Best Five of the World at the Beach Soccer Stars 2019
Japan Football Association. 16 November 2019. In 2015, Ozu was once again named best player at the

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

and was also joint top scorer. He also joined the

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

team at that year's

Mundialito de Clubes The Mundialito de Clubes ( en, link=yes, Club World Cup) is an international club beach soccer competition contested between top men's clubs from around the world. The tournament is loosely similar to the FIFA Club World Cup in association footbal ...

which the Spanish team won and opened his own institution for children, the "Copacabana Beach Soccer School", in Okinawa. 2016 saw Ozu branch further into playing for European clubs; he became the second Japanese to play in the Italian National League, for Viareggio, winning Europe's top club prize, the

Euro Winners Cup The Euro Winners Cup (EWC) is an annual, continental beach soccer club competition contested between top-division European teams; the clubs that are their country's national league/cup champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) fro ...

, with the Tuscan side that season. He has since had spells at FC City and

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москв ...

of Russia,

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and Falfala Kfar Qassem of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 2017, Ozu joined the first

J-League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J2 ...

club to establish a beach soccer branch,

Tokyo Verdy is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of football in the country. Founded as Yomiuri F.C. in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, with ...

, who he would go on to win multiple JFA League titles with. He also became an ambassador of the JFA's 'Teacher of Dreams' project, touring schools across Japan, explaining to children how he has overcome problems in his life to achieve the successes in his field. The AFC described Ozu's performance as "outstanding" as he again won the best player and top scorer awards of the AFC Championship, this time the 2019 edition, which Japan won for the first time under his leadership. 2019 continued to mark major international landmarks for Ozu as he reached a century of goals scored in a 7–2 win over

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

at the

World Beach Games The ANOC World Beach Games, known simply as the ''World Beach Games'', is an international multi-sport event organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). The games are held biennially in odd-numbered years, with a focus on ...

and also earned his 100th cap at the Intercontinental Cup a month later. Despite crucially missing his attempt in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

against

in the semi-final, Ozu ultimately inspired Japan to a positive 2019 World Cup performance of fourth place, their joint best ever finish at the World Cup matching

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, and he also won the prestigious Golden Ball (best player) award at the tournament. In July 2020, Ozu was named as the new head coach of the Japanese national team, making him a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

.Ozu officially introduced as new Japan coach
FIFA. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.

Statistics

;Country ;Club

Honours

The following is a selection, not an exhaustive list, of the major international honours Ozu has achieved:

Team

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the ''Beach Soccer World Champions ...

: **Fourth place (1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

**Runners Up (1):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

AFC Beach Soccer Championship The AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup is the main championship for beach soccer in Asia, contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the sport's version of the better known AFC Asian C ...

: **Champion (1):

**Runner-up (2):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Asian Beach Games The Asian Beach Games, also known as ABG, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The Games are described as the second or third largest A ...

: **Gold medal (1):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

**Silver medal (1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

(1):

*Euro Winners Challenge: Runner-up

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

(2):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual

**Golden Ball:

**Silver Ball:

**World dream team: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 *

**Best player:

**Top scorer:

**Best player:

References

External links

Moreira Ozu
profile at

Beach Soccer Worldwide Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) is the organisation responsible for the founding and growth of association football's derivative sport of beach soccer. The founding partners of BSWW codified the rules of beach soccer in 1992, with BSWW as it is kno ...

Moreira Ozu
profile at

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organisat ...

(in Japanese)
Ozu Moreira
profile at Beach Soccer Russia (in Russian)
Ozu Moreira
profile at ZeroZero.pt (in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozu, Moreira 1986 births Living people Japanese footballers Japanese beach soccer players Men's association football defenders Brazilian emigrants to Japan Naturalized citizens of Japan