Shunsuke Nakamura he decided to retire from football at the age of 44. During his career, he was known as one of the players Japan success in Europe.
There are many stories in Shunsuke Nakamura’s football career, starting from his debut, traveling across Europe, to becoming an Asian legend. The best known of course is when he strengthened Celtic in 2005-2009, where he really showed his best talent.
To find out the full story, let’s travel back to Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 44 years ago. Shunsuke Nakamura was born on June 24, 1978 in Yokohama.
He then started playing soccer at the age of five in 1983. At the age of 12 in 1991, Nakamura joined the youth team of Nissan Motors FC, the club now known as Yokohama F. Marinos.
Later, Nakamura joined Toko Gakuen High School in Kawasaki and led his school to the final of an inter-Japanese competition in 1996. After graduating from high school in 1997, Nakamura decided to join Yokohama Marinos, returning to the team where he studied as a child.
Nakamura made his professional debut on March 8, 1997 in J.League Cup match against Verdy Kawasaki or what is now known as Tokyo Verdy, playing 76 minutes in that match. He made his debut in the Japan League aka J1 League in the second week of the season on March 16, 1997 to be exact against Gamba Osaka.
During his J1 League debut, Nakamura came on in the 55th minute to replace Julio Cesar Baldivieso. But he had to be willing to see the defending side lose 0-4 to Gamba Osaka. That season he featured 30 times and scored five goals in all competitions.
Shunsuke Nakamura’s light really started to appear in 2000. In 32 games in the J1 League, Nakamura recorded five goals and 11 assists, leading Marinos to finish second in the league.
Not only that, Nakamura was also selected as the MVP aka J1 League Best Player and made his debut for the Japan national team in the same year.
He was fielded by manager Philippe Troussier in the 2000 Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore, on 13 February 2000. Nakamura then scored his first goal for Samurai Blue three days later against Brunei Darussalam where he contributed with a goal in the 9-0 win.
In the final, Nakamura led Japan to win the 2000 Asian Cup by defeating Saudi Arabia in the final. Nakamura was named in the tournament’s Team of the Year.
Nakamura’s career has not always been smooth. He was at a career crossroads in 2002. At the time, Nakamura surprisingly was left out of the Japan squad that competed in the 2002 World Cup.
Eventually Nakamura felt he had to leave for Europe to develop his game. In mid-2002, Nakamura opted to join Italian league Serie A promotion side Reggina.
Nakamura was given Reggina’s number 10 shirt and the club was able to sell 250,000 Nakamura shirts in just five months. In total, Nakamura played 150 times and scored 33 goals in the J1 League before leaving for Europe.
Eight years in Europe, Nakamura defended Reggina in the Italian league, Celtic in the Scottish league and Espanyol in the Spanish league, establishing himself as one of the flashiest Asian players in the world. Nakamura led Japan back to Asian Cup victory in 2004 by beating China in the top flight.
He was even chosen as the best player aka MVP of the tournament. After eight years of traveling in Europe, Nakamura decided to return to the J.League, rejoining Yokohama F. Marinos in early 2010.
He did this to get playing minutes and be called up by coach Takeshi Okada for the 2010 World Cup. Nakamura played once at the event which was held in South Africa and decided to retire from the Japan national team after the World Cup World 2010.
In total, Nakamura played 98 times for Japan and scored 24 goals. At club level, Nakamura played 32 times in the J1 League that season and scored five goals, becoming one of Marinos’ star players despite him being 32 years old.
Old taro, the older the better. Nakamura’s star shone again when he was 35 years old. In the 2013 season, Nakamura, who served as team captain, appeared extraordinary, playing 33 times, scoring 10 goals and six assists, and led Marinos to become runners-up in the J1 League.
Even though he looked good, Nakamura wasn’t happy. With injury towards the end of the season, Marinos has lost three of the last four games that have seen him overtaken by Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the title race, what Nakamura says was the worst moment of his career.
Even so, Nakamura was still voted MVP, aka Player of the Year, repeating his feat in 2000, making him the only player ever to win the J1 League MVP title twice during his career. At the time, he was also the oldest player to receive the J1 League MVP honors.
Nakamura remained at Yokohama F. Marinos until the end of the 2016 season, playing a total of 408 times in all competitions, scoring 82 goals and 58 assists.
In 2017, Nakamura decided to move to another J1 League club, Jubilo Iwata. Nakamura played two and a half seasons at Jubilo Iwata until the summer of 2019, and played a total of 52 times in all competitions, scoring 5 goals and 12 assists.
Midway through the 2019 season, Nakamura joined Yokohama FC in the J2 League, which is the second caste of the Japanese League. Yokohama FC is a city rival of his childhood club and the club that named after him, Yokohama F. Marinos.
He played six times and scored one goal that season, helping Yokohama FC achieve promotion to the upper caste as J2 League runners-up. Nakamura remained at Yokohama FC until the end of his career before deciding to retire at the end of the 2022 season.
In his last season, Nakamura played six times in the J2 League and helped Yokohama FC win the championship and be promoted back to the highest caste of the Japanese League. In total, Nakamura played 41 times in all competitions for Yokohama FC, scoring one goal and two assists.
The 2022 season will be his last season as a professional footballer and now he has decided to start his coaching career as a coaching staff at Yokohama FC.
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