Hang up the boots? No way. Legend Kazuyoshi Miura defies the laws of nature playing for Yokohama FC at the age of 53. It is the symbol of a Japanese league that begins on Friday and in which the ‘soccer grandparents’ shine, far from the fervor for the youth of other championships.
In the country with the world’s ‘oldest’ population, with a quarter of it over 65, Miura is a symbol.
The forward, nicknamed ‘King Kazu’, is the world’s oldest professional player. And it’s not the only one. In Japan, there are nine footballers over 40 who will be in the new J-League season, starting on Friday, the day that Miura will celebrate his 54th birthday.
This veteran of the rival area is also the oldest player to score in a professional match, with 50 years and 4 days at the beginning of 2017. In January he renewed his contract with Yokohama, which he arrived in 2005 at 38 years old, a age at which footballers usually choose to retire.
Dutch defender Calvin Jong-a-Pin, one of his teammates in Yokohama, thinks that the physical intensity of the competition, lower than in other championships, is a favorable factor that helps to extend the races.
– ‘Dying in the field’ –
“He is super motivated, he is a true professional,” this 34-year-old ‘kid’ stressed about his illustrious partner. “In training we have quite intense sessions and running is always ahead of the others, always finishing first,” he said.
“He told me that he wants to die in the field. I want to believe him, someone else should stop him, but he alone will not do it,” Jong-a-Pin added.
The defender explained that Miura has a personal coach “who follows him on all sides” and a driver “so as not to lose energy driving from his home to the training center.”
Miura began his professional career in 1986, at the Brazilian club Santos, home of the real ‘Rei’, Pelé.
Thirty-five years later, he is not happy because he only played four games last year: “From a personal point of view, it was not a satisfactory season, but my ambition and my enthusiasm for football have multiplied.”
– An example to follow –
Shunsuke Nakamura, a former Celtic Glasgow and Espanyol midfielder, maintains his touch at 42, as well as former internationals Junichi Inamoto, Yasuhito Endo and Teruyoshi Ito – 46 – all in their forties.
“I think Japanese culture might have something to do with it,” Keiki Tamada, a 40-year-old forward who plays in the second division, told AFP at V-Varen Nagasaki.
“It is clear that the objective is to play games, but I think that many players continue with their teams because they feel they can contribute beyond this,” he explained.
Midfielder Shinji Ono, who played for Bochum and Feyenoord almost 20 years ago, is 41 years old and is starting his 24th season as a professional. Believe that there is a phenomenon of emulation among the old generation.
“Sometimes we meet and talk. But we never do about the withdrawal issue because between us we feel that each one continues to feel pleasure playing football,” said the Consadole Sapporo player.
amk / kaf / jfx / chc / jed / pm
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