, often known simply as Kazu (nicknamed "King Kazu"), is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC. He played for the Japan national team from 1990 to 2000, and was the first Japanese recipient of the IFFHS Asia's Footballer of the Year award. Miura, whose rise to fame in Japan coincided with the launch of the

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

in 1993, was arguably Japan's first superstar in football. He is also known for his trademark "Kazu Feint" and his famous "Kazu dance", when he scores great goals or produces great plays. Miura holds the records for being the oldest goalscorer in the J-League, the footballer with the world's longest professional career, and, as of 2022, is the oldest professional footballer in the world at 55. He also holds the unique distinction of having played professional football in five separate decades (1980s–2020s). His elder brother Yasutoshi is also a former professional footballer.

Club career

Early career

In 1982, Miura left the Shizuoka Gakuen 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 the youth squad of São Paulo side

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, and in 1986, Miura signed his first professional contract with Santos. He played for several other Brazilian clubs, including

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

and Coritiba, until his return to Japan in 1990.

Verdy Kawasaki

His time in Brazil elevated him to star status and on his return to Japan, he joined the Japan Soccer League (JSL) side Yomiuri SC, which later spun off from its parent company

Yomiuri Shinbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; th ...

and became Verdy Kawasaki with the launch of the

J1 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 J ...

in 1993. With Yomiuri/Kawasaki, Miura won four consecutive league titles playing alongside fellow Japanese national team regulars Ruy Ramos and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa. Yomiuri won the last two JSL titles in 1991 and 1992, and Verdy Kawasaki won the first two J1 League titles in 1993 and 1994. He was named the first

J.League Most Valuable Player The J.League Player of the Year (formerly known as the "J.League Most Valuable Player Award" from 1993 to 2020) is awarded by the J.League to the most valuable player of the season. J1 League Winners Wins by club J2 League Winners J3 League ...

in 1993.

Loan to Genoa

Miura then became the first Japanese footballer to play in Italy, joining Genoa in the 1994–95 Serie A season. In his Italian stint, he played 21 times and scored one goal, during the Genoa derby against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. On 15 January 1994, Miura assisted Antonio Manicone's match-winning goal against Padova.

Return to Verdy Kawasaki

He returned to Verdy Kawasaki for the 1995 season and played with them until the end of the 1998 season.

Dinamo Zagreb

Miura made another attempt at playing in Europe with Croatia Zagreb in 1999.

Return to Japan

He returned to Japan, however, following a brief trial with

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

, in the same year, and played with Kyoto Purple Sanga and Vissel Kobe.

Yokohama FC

In 2005, Miura signed for Yokohama FC in 2005. In 2007, Miura was selected for the 2007

J.League All-Star Soccer The J. League All-Star Soccer, called JOMO All-Star Soccer for sponsorship reasons, is an annual exhibition match organised by the Japan Football Association and J. League. It has been played each year since the inception of J. League in 1993. The ...

for J-East and played exceptionally well. Kazu Miura, Roberto Baggio and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa

In November 2015, Miura signed a new one-year contract with Yokohama FC at the age of 48. In January 2017, Miura signed another new one-year contract with Yokohama, taking his professional career into his fifties. On 5 March 2017, Miura became the oldest ever player to feature in a professional match when he started in Yokohama's 1–1 draw against V-Varen Nagasaki. With 50 years and seven days, he surpassed the previous record held by Stanley Matthews from 1965 by two days. Seven days later, he broke Matthews' record for oldest goalscorer in professional football when he struck the only goal of a 1–0 win over Thespakusatsu Gunma. In January 2018, he signed a new contract, and renewed it again in January 2019, January 2020, and January 2021. On 5 August 2020, he started in a J.League Cup match against Sagan Tosu, becoming the oldest player to take to the pitch in Japan's league cup competition, at the age of 53 years, 5 months and 10 days. By doing so, he surpassed the previous record of 42 years, 10 months set in 2017 by

Yukio Tsuchiya is a Japanese footballer who plays for Tokyo 23 FC. Playing career Tsuchiya was born in Bunkyo, Tokyo on July 31, 1974. After graduating from high school, he moved to Brazil in 1994 and played for Noroeste, Internacional Bebedouro and Barre ...

. On 23 September 2020, he started in the J1 League match against Kawasaki Frontale and in doing so became the oldest player to take to the pitch in a J1 League match and the oldest player ever in a football match in the highest national division worldwide. Miura played 57 minutes in this match.

Suzuka Point Getters

On 30 December 2021, it was reported that Miura had reached an agreement to join Suzuka Point Getters in the Japan Football League (JFL), the fourth tier of Japanese football. On 13 March 2022, Kazua, at the age of 55, made his debut for Suzuka Point Getters, in the first round of the Japan Football League, which led to 4,620 spectators to watch his debut, which is the highest attendance at a Suzuka home match, breaking their previous record of 1,308 spectators in 2019. His debut also meant he broke the record of the oldest player to have ever featured in a JFL match at 55 years old, with a 12-year gap to the previous record holder. His presence at the club brought many curious spectators to see him in action, leading to Suzuka Point Getters having featured in nine of the ten matches with the highest attendance numbers throughout the 2022 season. This includes the match between Suzuka Point Getters and

Criacao Shinjuku is a Japanese semi-professional football club based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. They currently play in the Japan Football League, Japanese 4th-tier of football league, since 2021. History The club was founded by the current chairman Kazutomo Maruyama ...

, that gathered a crowd of 16,218 people watching the match at the Japan National Stadium, where he featured in a 1–0 win for Suzuka on 9 October 2022. It broke the record of the biggest attendance on a single JFL match. On 30 October 2022, Kazu became the oldest player to score at the JFL having converted from the penalty spot at the 85th minute of the match, to seal Suzuka's 3–1 win against Tiamo Hirakata. He broke the record two weeks after, on 12 November 2022, becoming the oldest player to score at the JFL at 55 years and 259 days old. With this goal, he also became the oldest to score at the competition from an open play situation. From 30 October to 12 November of 2022, then, he played three times and scored two goals, making it the first time he scored two goals in a single season since 2016, while at Yokohama FC.

International career

Football

In September 1990, Miura was named as part of the Japan squad for the

1990 Asian Games The 1990 Asian Games also known as the XI Asiad and the 11th Asian Games ( zh, c=第十一届亚洲运动会, p=Dì shíyī jiè yàzhōu yùndònghuì), were held from September 22 to October 7, 1990, in Beijing, China. This was the first Asian Ga ...

. At this competition, on September 26, he debuted against Bangladesh. After his debut, he played as a forward until 1997. In 1992, he played at the

1992 Asian Cup The 1992 AFC Asian Cup was the 10th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan between 29 Octob ...

, which Japan went on to win. In 1993, in the

1994 World Cup qualification File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, he played thirteen games and scored thirteen goals. However, Japan failed to qualify for the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

. He also played at the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games ( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from ...

, the

1995 King Fahd Cup The 1995 King Fahd Cup ( ar, كأس الملك فهد) was the second and last tournament held under the King Fahd Cup name before the competition was retroactively sanctioned by FIFA and recognized as FIFA Confederations Cup. Disputed as the King ...

and the

1996 Asian Cup The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 Decem ...

. In 1997, Miura scored fourteen times for Japan during qualification for the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, leading the ''Samurai Blue'' to their first ever World Cup finals. Despite this, Miura was controversially left out of the squad. In February 2000, Miura played for Japan for the first time in two years. He played his last national team match later that year, and finished with the second-most career goals in Japanese national team history with 55 goals in 89 matches.

Futsal

In 2012, and at the age of 45, Miura made his debut for the Japan futsal team in a 3–3 draw against Brazil. He came off the bench and was involved in the build up for the second goal scored by Nobuya Osodo. In his second appearance with the futsal team, he scored the third goal in a 3–1 win over Ukraine. In the 2012 Futsal World Cup, Miura appeared in all four matches for Japan, but failed to score as the Japanese were knocked out by Ukraine in the round of 16.

Personal life

Since 1993, he has been married to former actress and model Risako Shitara. They have two children, Ryota Miura (born 1997) and Kota Miura.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Matsubara * Torneio Brasil Sul:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

CRB * Campeonato Alagoano:

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

(in Portuguese) Coritiba *

Campeonato Paranaense Campeonato Paranaense, which has been contested since 1915, is the top-flight football league of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Format The format has changed in 2014. 12 teams are together in a single group. They play against each other once, ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

(in Portuguese) Tokyo Verdy * Japan Soccer League: 1990–91, 1991–92, *

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

* J.League Cup:

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Japan Soccer League Cup was the original league cup for clubs in the top levels of Japanese soccer before the creation of the J. League and its cup. The cup was first played in 1973, but did not become an annual tournament until 1976. The JSL/JFL Cup included clubs fro ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

* Xerox Super Cup:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Croatia Zagreb *

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

1998–99 Yokohama *

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

; runners-up:

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 ...

Japan *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

* Afro-Asian Cup of Nations:

Individual *

Asian Footballer of the Year The Asian Footballer of the Year is an annual prize awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year, organized by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). History The origin of ...

J.League MVP Award The J.League Player of the Year (formerly known as the "J.League Most Valuable Player Award" from 1993 to 2020) is awarded by the J.League to the most valuable player of the season. J1 League Winners Wins by club J2 League Winners J3 League ...

* J.League Best XI:

20th Anniversary Team: 2013 *

J.League Top Scorer The J.League Top Scorer is awarded by the J.League to the top scoring player of the season. Wins by club See also *List of J.League awards, J.League awards *Japanese football champions, for Japan Soccer League predecessors. References ULTRAZO ...

Most Valuable Player: