Yuji Nakazawa

Yuji Nakazawa (中澤 佑二, Nakazawa Yūji, born 25 February 1978) is a former Japanese football player.[1]

Yuji Nakazawa
中澤 佑二
Nakazawa playing for Japan in 2008
Personal information
Full name Yuji Nakazawa
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(s) Defender
Youth career
1993–1995 Misato Technical High School
1996–1997 América
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Tokyo Verdy 83 (5)
2002–2018 Yokohama F. Marinos 510 (31)
Total 593 (36)
National team
1999–2000 Japan U-23 12 (0)
1999–2010 Japan 110 (17)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He 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 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 (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.

He 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.[1] 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.

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.[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 Asian Cup in Lebanon.[9] He played 3 games in the competition.[9] 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.[9] 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.[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 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

Club

[12]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Japan League Emperor's Cup League Cup Asia Other1 Total
1999Verdy KawasakiJ1 League2813120--332
20002942030--344
2001Tokyo Verdy2600020--280
Total 8355170--956
2002Yokohama F. MarinosJ1 League2712000--291
20032942072--386
200427110002030331
200527310304010363
20062313020--281
20073221070--402
20083343130--395
20093231030--363
20102200021--241
20113315050--431
20123335030--413
20133413180--452
201434200215010393
20153403030--400
20163435060--453
20173412000--361
20182211020--251
Total 510313825641105062037
Career total 593364336341105071543

1Includes Japanese Super Cup and J.League Championship.

International

[13]

Japan national team
YearAppsGoals
199910
200062
200120
200210
200340
2004155
2005121
2006121
2007132
2008164
2009142
2010140
Total11017

Appearances in major competitions
Team Competition Category Appearances Goals Team Record
Start Sub
 Japan2000 Summer OlympicsU-23400Quarterfinals
 Japan2000 AFC Asian CupSenior300Champions
 Japan2004 AFC Asian CupSenior603Champions
 Japan2006 FIFA World CupSenior300Round 1
 Japan2007 AFC Asian CupSenior6014th Place
 Japan2010 FIFA World CupSenior400Round of 16

International goals

[9]

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 Feb 2000Macau, China Singapore3–0Won2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2.13 Feb 2000Macau, China Singapore3–0Won2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3.9 Jun 2004Saitama, Japan India7–0Won2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.9 Jun 2004Saitama, Japan India7–0Won2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.24 Jul 2004Chongqing, China Thailand4–1Won2004 AFC Asian Cup group stage
6.24 Jul 2004Chongqing, China Thailand4–1Won2004 AFC Asian Cup group stage
7.3 Aug 2004Jinan, China Bahrain4–3Won2004 AFC Asian Cup semifinals
8.7 Aug 2005Daegu, Korea Republic South Korea1–0Won2005 East Asian Football Championship
9.10 Feb 2006San Francisco, United States United States2–3LostFriendly match
10.1 Jun 2007Fukuroi, Japan Montenegro2–0Won2007 Kirin Cup
11.25 Jul 2007Hanoi, Vietnam Saudi Arabia2–3Lost2007 AFC Asian Cup semifinals
12.28 Jan 2008Tokyo, Japan Bosnia and Herzegovina3–0WonFriendly Match
13.6 Feb 2008Saitama, Japan Thailand4–1Won2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.2 Jun 2008Yokohama, Japan Oman3–0Won2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.14 Jun 2008Bangkok, Thailand Thailand3–0Won2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.4 Feb 2009Tokyo, Japan Finland5–1WonFriendly Match
17.8 Oct 2009Shizuoka, Japan Hong Kong6–0Won2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Honours

Club
Yokohama F. Marinos

International
Japan
Major tournament participations

Individual

See also

References
  1. Yuji Nakazawa at J.League (in Japanese)
  2. 横浜F・マリノス 公式サイト｜Yokohama F-Marinos Official Website Archived 22 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Fc Japan
  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(in Japanese)
  6. Yokohama F. Marinos(in Japanese)
  7. J.League(in Japanese)
  8. Yokohama F. Marinos(in Japanese)
  9. Japan National Football Team Database
  10. People's Daily Online – Japan's Yuji Nakazawa may retire from international soccer
  11. ESPN – Soccer-Disgruntled Nakazawa completes Japan U-turn – Soccer
  12. Yokohama F. Marinos(in Japanese)
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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