The Story Of The 54 Year Old Striker Who Refused To Quit Football

So… What if I told you that right now there’s  a football player called Kazuioshi Miura who’s still actively playing in the Portuguese second  tier despite the fact he made his debut in 1986… for some perspective Cantona, who made his debut  around the same time as Miura, already retired 26 years ago… The guy is so old that he was literally  in the first ever FIFA game to be released… But focusing on his age goes completely  against the point of this video… Everyone seems to love to constantly mention his age but  in my opinion that is almost tainting his legacy, reducing Kazu Miura to just another trivia  question, goes completely against everything he fought for… His age shouldn’t matter, it isn’t  his age that makes him special, in fact the only reason he’s been allowed to play for this long is  because of how special he already was… He would go to any lengths to fulfill his dream of playing  football, whether that meant moving across the globe as a child or coming back and jumpstarting  a football revolution… His story is so incredible, that there’s even a common misconception that  he was the inspiration behind Captain Tsubasa… And though that isn’t true… they did make his  life into an animé… it just wasn’t that one… Look, imagine being in his position… The guy  grows up in one of the few cities in Japan that has the slightest interest in football and for  some reason he just becomes completely obsessed with it… despite everyone around him being  too busy with baseball…. he grows up feeling like a complete alien in his own country… Even  when he looks back, there’s only one player who ever managed to leave the country and find his  place in Europe… He was pretty much hopeless… He either accepted he’d never have an actual  career or he’d risk everything and move away… and that’s what makes Miura so special… he  didn’t even hesitate… Only one year after joining a school only because it supposedly had  the most prestigious academy in the country… he realized things weren’t moving forward, so  despite being only 15 years old… he saved up 700$, put all of his things in a bag and moved to  Brazil without knowing a word of portuguese… And still somehow quickly managed to get  himself some trials and before you knew it he had joined his first club Juventus SP… And look I’m not gonna lie to you, it was rough, he struggled to adapt his game, he struggled  with the language, he even had a hard time making friends… At 17 he literally almost quit  everything and moved back to Japan, but instead he stuck with it, put his head into the game and  two years later, after leading his team to the Under 21 State Championship, Santos signed him  and suddenly he was the talk of the town…They called him the Japanese Garrinhca, the Samurai,  even Dunga praised his performance on his debut… Regardless, he was young, it was hard for to  be seen as anything more than “the asian guy”, whenever he played poorly, he was criticized twice  as harshly and so he quickly got stuck in a cycle, moving from club to club, until he arrived at  Quinze De Jaú, in the third tier, where things finally started working out for him… taking center  stage as the team managed to beat Corinthians, impressing everyone at the Paulista, being  named the 3rd best winger in the competition and earning a transfer to Coritiba… finally  getting another chance at the top flight, quickly establishing himself as a key player  and leading Santos to come back for him, with their tails between their legs… After all, by  then there were European clubs making the rounds, with an unnamed Italian side even offering half  a million for his signing… which back then was a gigantic deal, for comparison Paolo Di Canio moved  to Lazio that year for around the same amount… However, it never seemed like Miura  was happy once he was back there, things never went as well as he hoped for, he got  tired of being the “japanese guy” and honestly he began questioning all of his life decisions… But then something hit him, he had spent his life looking for football somewhere else, but  what if he could bring football back to Japan, what if instead of looking for his place  in the football world he created his own… And thankfully for him, the timing was perfect,  with Zico having just shocked the world by joining Kashima Antlers, everyone's interest for Japanese  football had peaked… Big companies began investing in the teams and once Kawasaki took control  of Tokyo Verdy, they looked at him and decided he was gonna be their star signing, because  after all… Miura was infinitely marketable, he was like a hero out of a fairy tale for them…  coming back to his home after a mysterious stint on the other side of the globe, brushing shoulders  with World class players… he even danced a bit of samba when he scored his goals and the crowd  went nuts… especially because well he scored so many and played so incredibly well that two years  later, Verdy had already won the league twice… And of course, with Kazu Miura becoming a  household name, he also got called up to his first international trophy, the 1992 Asian Cup, where  things couldn’t have gone any better for him… After a poor start, Japan found themselves needing  a win in the final match of the group stage and who showed up with the miraculous goal? Miura…  In the semis they go behind in the first minute versus their rivals China and who inspires the  team to a massive comeback?

Miura… And after one more win… they were champions for the first time  in their history and with Miura taking the player of the tournament award, the asian player of the  year award and earning the nickname king kazu, all while the new J League replaced the old JSL, with  massive investments coming to the game… Miura went from household name to literal superstar status… And as more and more legends arrived at the league, from Lineker to Littbarski… Kazu  was always there, outscoring everyone, taking the titles and the MVP awards… If once  Kazu had lost hope in Japan and gone looking somewhere else, now Japan had lost hope in  itself and as they looked for foreigners to bring some talent to the country, Miura showed  them that the talent had been there all along… that they could do it themselves if they wanted  it bad enough… he was the hero of the people… And don’t let the emotional side of  this overshadow how good he was… he was getting all of these awards because he  deserved them… In that first J League season, he pretty much carried his team on his back to  the title… Over the last 6 months of the season, they played 19 matches and won every game  except one, with Miura scoring 17 goals in that same period, even scoring twice against  Zico’s team the Kashima Antlers in the final and scoring the winning goal in the Afro Asian Cup  final against the Ivory Coast on extra time… By the end of the year, he had made such an  impact in the world of football, that he was even invited by AC Milan to play against them  in a charity match in what was supposed to be a team composed of the best players in the world…  and of course he made sure to assist Hugo Sanchez in that match, impressing everyone enough that  AC Milan ended up asking him to stay over for a trial, though nothing ever materialized… And if that was already a bit unfortunate, the next year, with Kazu completely dominating  the World Cup qualification stage with 13 goals in 13 matches… he was hit with the  most heartbreaking moment of his career… With one game to go, Japan was top of their group  but still in a delicate position where only a win over Iran would allow them to keep their spot  in the world cup… As the game started, Kazu was quick to put them in front, but then Iran tied the  score and finally with the last play of the match, they scored to kill the Japanese dream… that  match became known as the agony of doha… With another chance at earning his place at the  world stage falling through, those feelings from earlier in his career began coming back to him,  as he began to feel that, as he was closing in on his thirties, he would soon be seen as  spoiled goods, and so he finally fell into the temptation of moving to Europe… becoming the  first ever asian in the Serie A, joining Genoa… Once again, the usual complaints arrived. On his  presentation one of the journalists literally had the nerve to ask him if he thought his own  singing had only happened as a way to get Kenwood, a Japanese company, to sponsor Genoa’s jerseys… Kazu had everything to prove them wrong, but unfortunately that move became notorious  for an incredible streak of bad luck… On his first match, he smashed into an advertising board  and literally broke his nose and his eye socket, being left out for a month… Then as he came  back, he was called up for international duty and missed a bunch of games, then the club kept  changing managers and eventually he left the club with only one goal… and even though Torino  and Sporting tried to sign him, he just went back to Verdy, honestly kind of traumatized… Still, once back there, he was as good as ever, taking them to the final once again,  while also being the league’s top scorer and making it to the team of the season… However following an injury riddled season in 1997, with Kazu now into his thirties, some  began worrying he would not be able to match up to his performances of previous years, especially  with the world cup qualification stage coming soon after… but instead that’s when he came back  in full force, with 14 goals in 12 matches, including 6 in a single match against Macau,  the all time record for a Japanese player, securing their qualification to  the greatest tournament on earth… Kazu was quite literally on top of the world,  he was just a step away from making his dreams a reality… but I’m sorry to tell you they once again  broke his heart as the national team coach shocked the country by quite simply deciding not to  call him up… Instead doing the most ironic thing possible and calling up Wagner Lopes in his place…  a Brazilian player, who had moved to Japan at 18, after failing to find his place in his home  country… meaning pretty much, the anti-Kazu… As you might imagine, this really upset him,  especially as, without him, the Japanese national team ended up embarrassing themselves losing every  single match at the world cup… but still once they asked him “Is there something you want to say  to Mr Okada? ”, who was the national team coach, he replied “no, nothing”.

. . which ironically  said a lot… considering it’d be years before he joined the national team again… With all of this sending him into another identity crisis, this time leading him to a  loan move to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia… guess what happened there?

He was once again labeled as  nothing but a marketing stunt… And though his time was impactful enough that Jean Pierre Papin  even called him up to his ceremonial match… he ended up moving back regardless despite  having offers from England and Scotland… Back in Japan he joined Kyoto Sanga, where he  actually played alongside the iconic Ji Sung Park, even finishing the year in the top scorers  podium despite being already 33 which did earn him his return to the Japanese national  team though it would serve no purpose as he’d chose to retire from international football  just two games later, as the country’s second highest goalscorer… But hey, don’t  think things got boring from there on out, the guy still managed to find a way to somehow  play in a world cup, you’ll see what I mean…. Regardless, after 4 seasons at Vissel Kobe, he  joined Yokohama FC in the Japanese second tier… which might seem kinda lame until you realize  that Kazu immediately brought them up to the top flight, quickly becoming an absolute fan  favorite at the club… In fact, once the season was over he even managed to become the first  ever player to be given the status of guest player at the Australian A-League, which allowed  him to play 4 matches for Sidney FC… Fun fact, he was picked on the recommendation of Littbarski,  German legend and the manager of Sidney FC who had played in Japan back in Kazu’s prime, becoming  a big fan of the king himself… and thankfully for both, things went really well actually,  it was… you know… short but sweet, with 38 year old Kazu lining up alongside Dwight Yorke  and still pulling off an incredible performance against league leaders, Adelaide FC scoring twice  and then even becoming the first ever japanese player to take part in the club world cup… Regardless, after 5 more seasons at Yokohama, constantly helping the club in their battles  against relegation… he even got an offer to join Quinze de Jaú, one of his first ever teams he  represented back in Brazil, however as fun as that sounded he ended up rejecting it, instead staying  at Yokohama, where over time his role became less and less significant, one year later even joining  their futsal team as well, somehow turning enough heads that it earned him a place in the Japanese  futsal national team, then literally getting called up to the futsal world cup… Sure it is not  even close to the real thing, but I really hope, in some way it helped to ease his pain somehow… Regardless, after some injury problems over the next two years, Kazu still managed to complete 21  games in a season in 2016 at 49 years of age but after surpassing the first ever Ballon D’Or winner  Stanley Matthews to become the oldest ever player to feature and score in a professional match,  Kazu finally began to take a few steps back, taking on the role of a sort of lockeroom  figure and mentor for his teammates, playing only 26 matches over the following 4  years, before absurdly joining the Suzuka Point Getters in the Japanese fourth tier on loan, as  a sort of favor to his brother Yasutoshi Miura, who had actually lined up alongside him at  Verdy and Kobe and was now the team’s director… As a result he completely annihilated the team's  attendance record of 13 hundred spectators, with nearly 5000 fans flooding  the stadium hoping to see him… At that point, it seemed things were more  than over, but that’s exactly when King Kazu shocked me more than ever, by moving to my own  country, joining Portuguese club Oliveirense… If that sounds too strange to be real, well… Yokohama  and Oliveirense are owned by the same company… so you know, it was easier than it looks… Regardless, please think twice before calling his career a marketing stunt… once someone criticized  him saying he was just “a side attraction like a panda in a zoo”, Kazu replied “I’m proud of that  role, it’s okay if I’m just a panda being used to draw in the crowds… If the fans won’t come for  the regular bear, let them come for the panda”. .

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