Yuji Nakazawa

Yuji Nakazawa

Nakazawa playing for Japan in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Yuji Nakazawa[1]
Date of birth	(1978-02-25) 25 February 1978
Place of birth	Yoshikawa, Saitama, Japan
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current team	Yokohama F. Marinos
Number	22
Youth career
1996–1997	América
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2001	Tokyo Verdy	83	(5)
2002–	Yokohama F. Marinos	488	(30)
National team‡
1999–2000	Japan U-23	12	(0)
1999–2010[2]	Japan	110	(17)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 January 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Yuji Nakazawa (中澤 佑二, Nakazawa Yūji, born 25 February 1978 in Yoshikawa, Saitama, Japan) is a Japanese football player who currently plays as a centre back for J.League side Yokohama F. Marinos.^[3] He was the formerly the captain of the Japan national football 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. During his time there, he won the Campeonato Mineiro 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 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.

He was transferred to Yokohama F. Marinos in 2002 and contributed to the club winning two consecutive J.League championships in 2003 and 2004.^[4] He was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the league in 2004.^[5]

National team career

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.^[2] He scored his first goal on 13 February 2000 in an Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore in Macau.^[2]

He was a member of the Japan team who won the 2000 Asian Cup in Lebanon.^[2] He played 3 games in the competition.^[2] However, he was not selected for the 2002 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 Asian Cup finals.^[2] He played in all the Japan matches and scored 3 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 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.^[6] However, six months later, he withdrew his decision and Ivica Osim played him in a friendly against Peru on 24 March 2007.^[7]

He played in the 2007 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 World Cup, Nakazawa played all 4 of Japan's games on their way to the round of 16 and knockout by penalties to Paraguay. He played some of the best football of his entire career and, alongside Marcus Tulio Tanaka, was the heart of defense.

Career statistics

Appearances in major competitions

Team	Competition	Category	Appearances		Goals	Team Record
			Start	Sub
Japan	2000 Summer Olympics	U-23	4	0	0	Quarterfinals
Japan	2000 AFC Asian Cup	Senior	3	0	0	Champions
Japan	2004 AFC Asian Cup	Senior	6	0	3	Champions
Japan	2006 FIFA World Cup	Senior	3	0	0	Round 1
Japan	2007 AFC Asian Cup	Senior	6	0	1	4th Place
Japan	2010 FIFA World Cup	Senior	4	0	0	Round of 16

International goals

^[2]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 Feb 2000	Macau, China	Singapore	3–0	Won	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2.	13 Feb 2000	Macau, China	Singapore	3–0	Won	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3.	9 Jun 2004	Saitama, Japan	India	7–0	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	9 Jun 2004	Saitama, Japan	India	7–0	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	24 Jul 2004	Chongqing, China	Thailand	4–1	Won	2004 AFC Asian Cup group stage
6.	24 Jul 2004	Chongqing, China	Thailand	4–1	Won	2004 AFC Asian Cup group stage
7.	3 Aug 2004	Jinan, China	Bahrain	4–3	Won	2004 AFC Asian Cup semifinals
8.	7 Aug 2005	Daegu, Korea Republic	South Korea	1–0	Won	2005 East Asian Football Championship
9.	10 Feb 2006	San Francisco, United States	United States	2–3	Lost	Friendly match
10.	1 Jun 2007	Fukuroi, Japan	Montenegro	2–0	Won	2007 Kirin Cup
11.	25 Jul 2007	Hanoi, Vietnam	Saudi Arabia	2–3	Lost	2007 AFC Asian Cup semifinals
12.	28 Jan 2008	Tokyo, Japan	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–0	Won	Friendly Match
13.	6 Feb 2008	Saitama, Japan	Thailand	4–1	Won	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.	2 Jun 2008	Yokohama, Japan	Oman	3–0	Won	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.	14 Jun 2008	Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	3–0	Won	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.	4 Feb 2009	Tokyo, Japan	Finland	5–1	Won	Friendly Match
17.	8 Oct 2009	Shizuoka, Japan	Hong Kong	6–0	Won	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Honours

See also

• List of footballers with 100 or more caps

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yuji Nakazawa.

• Yuji Nakazawa – FIFA competition record (archive)
• Yuji Nakazawa at National-Football-Teams.com
• Yuji Nakazawa at the Japan National Football Team
• Yuji Nakazawa at J.League (in Japanese)
• Official website (in Japanese)