is a Japanese former 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, rugb ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for

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 ...

side

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 ...

and Yokohama F. Marinos. He was the formerly the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Japan national team. His nickname is "Bomber" because of his distinctive hairstyle. Nakazawa is one of only seven Japanese players to reach 100 caps for his country.

Club career

Nakazawa started playing football for his home country. He played for Yoshikawa Higashi Junior High School and Misato Technology High School, but attracted no scouts' eyes. Determined to be a pro, he left for Brazil to improve his football skills and trained with

América Mineiro The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. During his time there, he won the

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

in the junior category and played a key role in coach Ricardo Drubscky's squad. After a year, he returned to Japan and joined

Verdy Kawasaki 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, wit ...

(later ''Tokyo Verdy'') in 1998 as a trainee, which meant he received no compensation. He impressed the club enough to win a full professional contract the following year. His first

appearance came on 13 March 1999 against

Cerezo Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka. ...

Todoroki Athletics Stadium The , or officially Todoroki Athletics Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Todoroki Ryokuchi in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Kawasaki Frontale. Unti ...

. He scored his first league goal on 10 April 1999 against

Nagoya Grampus Eight (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

also at Todoroki. That year, he received the J.League Young Player of the Year award and was selected for the J.League Team of the Year. He was transferred to Yokohama F. Marinos in 2002 and contributed to the club winning two consecutive J1 League championships in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the league in 2004. He played more than 30 games every season from 2007 except 2010 season. He also played full time for 178 consecutive games from July 2013 to August 2018. This is a J.League record except goalkeeper. However he could not play at all in the match from August 2018 except last match in 2018 season. On 8 January 2019, Yokohama F. Marinos announced his retirement at 2018 season. He was 40 years old.

International career

Philippe Troussier Philippe Omar TroussierOctober's ten - Religious conversions

called him up for Japan national team. Nakazawa played in Olympic qualifiers as well as the finals in Sydney. Troussier promoted him to a full international. His first international appearance came on 8 September 1999 in a friendly against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

at the International Stadium Yokohama.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> He scored his first goal on 13 February 2000 in an Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore in Macau. He was a member of the Japan team who won the

2000 AFC Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th 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 Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan def ...

in Lebanon. He played three games in the competition. However, he was not selected for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

finals as Yutaka Akita was preferred. Under new national manager Zico, he partnered with

Tsuneyasu Miyamoto is a former Japanese football coach and former player who last coached Gamba Osaka. He played for Japan national team. A central defender, Miyamoto went on to make 71 international appearances and led the Japan national team in the 2002 and ...

at the back line. He participated in the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champio ...

finals. He played in all the Japan matches and scored three goals, one of which was a stoppage time equaliser in the semi-final against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

, and Japan went on to win the title again. He also played in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

in Germany but the team failed to proceed to the knockout stage. After the tournament, he announced his retirement from the international football at the age of 28. However, six months later, he withdrew his decision and

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional footballer and football manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time and as one of the most influential foo ...

played him in a friendly against Peru on 24 March 2007.ESPN – Soccer-Disgruntled Nakazawa completes Japan U-turn – Soccer
/ref> He played in the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

finals but this time the team failed to defend the title and finished 4th in the tournament. On 14 February 2010, Nakazawa made his 100th appearance for the Japan national team against South Korea in the final match of the

2010 East Asian Football Championship The 2010 EAFF East Asian Football Championship was the fourth edition of the tournament which was held between 6 and 14 February 2010. Two preliminary competitions were held during 2009. Participating teams Preliminary Round 1 * * * * Round ...

Tokyo National Stadium The Japan National Stadium, officially named and formerly known as or , is a multi-purpose stadium used mostly for association football in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The facility served as the main stadium for the opening and ...

. Nakazawa becomes only the third Japanese player, following

Masami Ihara is a Japanese former professional football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. A defender, Ihara was captain of the Japan national team for more than a decade in the 1990s, together with striker Kazuyoshi Miura and Brazili ...

and

Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi , sometimes referred to as Yoshi Kawaguchi, is a former Japanese professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is a former captain of the Japan national team. Career Early career Born in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Kawaguchi studie ...

, to reach 100 caps for his country. Later that year, Yasuhito Endo also reached 100 caps for Japan. On 30 May 2010, Nakazawa scored an own-goal in a friendly match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

to give England the lead; his defensive partner Marcus Tulio Tanaka had already scored an own goal to draw England level with Japan. The match ended 2–1 to England. In the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Nakazawa played all four of Japan's games on their way to the round of 16 and knockout by penalties to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

. He played some of the best football of his entire career and, alongside Marcus Tulio Tanaka, was the heart of defense.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Yokohama F. Marinos *

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 ...

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 fa ...

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 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Individual *

Best Eleven –

* J.League Most Valuable Player – 2004 * J.League Rookie of the Year – 1999 * J.League Best Eleven – 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 * J.League 20th Anniversary Team * Japanese Footballer of the Year – 2004 * Selected to AFC All Star Team – 1999 *

East Asian Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

Best Defender – 2008

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakazawa, Yuji 1978 births Living people Association football people from Saitama Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan international footballers J1 League players Tokyo Verdy players Yokohama F. Marinos players Japanese Footballer of the Year winners J1 League Player of the Year winners FIFA Century Club AFC Asian Cup-winning players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Japan Association football defenders