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Yuji Nakazawa

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Yuji Nakazawa
中澤 佑二
Nakazawa playing for Japan in 2008
Personal information
Full name Yuji Nakazawa[1]
Date of birth (1978-02-25) 25 February 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Yoshikawa, Saitama, Japan
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1990–1992 Yoshikawa Higashi Junior High School
1993–1995 Misato Kogyo High School
1996–1997 América Mineiro
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Tokyo Verdy 83 (5)
2002–2018 Yokohama F. Marinos 510 (31)
Total 593 (36)
International career
1999–2000 Japan U-23 12 (0)
1999–2010 Japan 110 (17)
Medal record
Yokohama F. Marinos
Winner J1 League 2003
Winner J1 League 2004
Runner-up J1 League 2002
Runner-up J1 League 2013
Runner-up J.League Cup 2018
Winner Emperor's Cup 2013
Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2017
Representing  Japan
AFC Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 2000 Lebanon
Gold medal – first place 2004 China
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Yuji Nakazawa (中澤 佑二, Nakazawa Yūji, born 25 February 1978) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a centre back for J1 League side Tokyo Verdy and Yokohama F. Marinos.[2] He was the formerly the captain 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 national team and he is the third highest number of J.League all-time appearances in history with 593 appearances. Nakazawa also played for 178 consecutive matches for Yokohama F. Marinos from July 2013 to August 2018

Club career

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Youth

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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. During his time there, he won the Campeonato Mineiro in the junior category and played a key role in coach Ricardo Drubscky's squad.

Tokyo Verdy

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After a year, he returned to Japan and joined Verdy Kawasaki (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 J1 League appearance came on 13 March 1999 against Cerezo Osaka at Todoroki Athletics Stadium. He scored his first league goal on 10 April 1999 against Nagoya Grampus Eight 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.

Yokohama F. Marinos

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Nakazawa was transferred to Yokohama F. Marinos in 2002 and contributed to the club winning two consecutive J1 League championships in 2003 and 2004.[3] He was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the league in 2004.[4] He played more than 30 games every season from 2007 except 2010 season.[2] He also played full time for 178 consecutive games from July 2013 to August 2018. This is a J.League record except goalkeeper.[5][6] However he could not play at all in the match from August 2018 except last match in 2018 season.[7]

On 8 January 2019, Yokohama F. Marinos announced his retirement at 2018 season.[8] He was 40 years old.

International career

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Philippe Troussier 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 at the International Stadium Yokohama.[9] He scored his first goal on 13 February 2000 in an Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore in Macau.[9]

He was a member of the Japan team who won the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon.[9] He played three games in the competition.[9] However, he was not selected for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals as Yutaka Akita was preferred.

Under new national manager Zico, he partnered with Tsuneyasu Miyamoto at the back line. He participated in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup finals.[9] 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, and Japan went on to win the title again.

He also played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup 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.[10] However, six months later, he withdrew his decision and Ivica Osim played him in a friendly against Peru on 24 March 2007.[11]

He played in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup 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 at Tokyo National Stadium. Nakazawa becomes only the third Japanese player, following Masami Ihara and Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, 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 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, Nakazawa played all four of Japan's games on their way to the round of 16 and knockout by penalties to Paraguay.

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[12]
Club Season League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Asia Other[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tokyo Verdy[b] 1999 J1 League 28 1 3 1 2 0 – – 33 2
2000 29 4 2 0 3 0 – – 34 4
2001 26 0 0 0 2 0 – – 28 0
Total 83 5 5 1 7 0 – – 95 6
Yokohama F. Marinos 2002 J1 League 27 1 2 0 0 0 – – 29 1
2003 29 4 2 0 7 2 – – 38 6
2004 27 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 33 1
2005 27 3 1 0 3 0 4 0 1 0 36 3
2006 23 1 3 0 2 0 – – 28 1
2007 32 2 1 0 7 0 – – 40 2
2008 33 4 3 1 3 0 – – 39 5
2009 32 3 1 0 3 0 – – 36 3
2010 22 0 0 0 2 1 – – 24 1
2011 33 1 5 0 5 0 – – 43 1
2012 33 3 5 0 3 0 – – 41 3
2013 34 1 3 1 8 0 – – 45 2
2014 34 2 0 0 2 1 5 0 1 0 39 3
2015 34 0 3 0 3 0 – – 40 0
2016 34 3 5 0 6 0 – – 45 3
2017 34 1 2 0 0 0 – – 36 1
2018 22 1 1 0 2 0 – – 25 1
Total 510 31 38 2 56 4 11 0 5 0 620 37
Career total 593 36 43 3 63 4 11 0 5 0 715 43
  1. ^ Includes Japanese Super Cup and J.League Championship.
  2. ^ "Verdy Kawasaki" until 2001

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[13]
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 1999 1 0
2000 6 2
2001 2 0
2002 1 0
2003 4 0
2004 15 5
2005 12 1
2006 12 1
2007 13 2
2008 16 4
2009 14 2
2010 14 0
Total 110 17
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nakazawa goal.
List of international goals scored by Yuji Nakazawa[9]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 13 February 2000 Macau, China  Singapore 3–0 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2
3 9 June 2004 Saitama, Japan  India 7–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
4
5 24 July 2004 Chongqing, China  Thailand 4–1 2004 AFC Asian Cup
6
7 3 August 2004 Jinan, China  Bahrain 4–3 2004 AFC Asian Cup
8 7 August 2005 Daegu, South Korea  South Korea 1–0 2005 East Asian Football Championship
9 10 February 2006 San Francisco, United States  United States 2–3 Friendly
10 1 June 2007 Fukuroi, Japan  Montenegro 2–0 2007 Kirin Cup
11 25 July 2007 Hanoi, Vietnam  Saudi Arabia 2–3 2007 AFC Asian Cup
12 28 January 2008 Tokyo, Japan  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–0 Friendly
13 6 February 2008 Saitama, Japan  Thailand 4–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14 2 June 2008 Yokohama, Japan  Oman 3–0 FIFA World Cup qualification
15 14 June 2008 Bangkok, Thailand  Thailand 3–0 FIFA World Cup qualification
16 4 February 2009 Tokyo, Japan  Finland 5–1 Friendly
17 8 October 2009 Shizuoka, Japan  Hong Kong 6–0 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Honours

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Yokohama F. Marinos

Japan

Individual

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Japan" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b Yuji Nakazawa at J.League (archive) (in Japanese) Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ "Fc Japan". Archived from the original on 26 May 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  4. ^ "F. Marinos defender Nakazawa caps big year with J.League MVP award". The Japan Times. 14 December 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  5. ^ nikkansports.com Archived 13 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine(in Japanese)
  6. ^ Yokohama F. Marinos Archived 3 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine(in Japanese)
  7. ^ J.League Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine(in Japanese)
  8. ^ Yokohama F. Marinos Archived 3 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine(in Japanese)
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Japan National Football Team Database". Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  10. ^ "People's Daily Online – Japan's Yuji Nakazawa may retire from international soccer". Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  11. ^ "ESPN – Soccer-Disgruntled Nakazawa completes Japan U-turn – Soccer". Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  12. ^ Yokohama F. Marinos Archived 3 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine(in Japanese)
  13. ^ "Yuji Nakazawa - Century of International Appearances". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  14. ^ "Yasuhito Endo named J-League 30-year MVP, Kazuyoshi Miura, Shunsuke Nakamura in best XI". Mainichi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  15. ^ "#AsianCup2023 five-month countdown: Fan-voted all-time AFC Asian Cup Dream XI revealed". Asian Football Confederation. 12 August 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
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