Yuji Nakazawa


Yuji Nakazawa is a former Japanese football player.
He played as a centre back for J1 League side Tokyo Verdy and Yokohama F. Marinos. 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 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. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the league in 2004. He played more than 30 games every season from 2007 except 2010 season. He also played full time for 178 consecutive games from July 2013 to August 2018. This is a J.League record except goalkeeper. However he could not play at all in the match from August 2018 except last match in 2018 season.
On 8 January 2019, Yokohama F. Marinos announced his retirement at 2018 season. He was 40 years old.

National team career

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. He scored his first goal on 13 February 2000 in an Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore in Macau.
He was a member of the Japan team who won the 2000 Asian Cup in Lebanon. He played 3 games in the competition. 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. 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. However, six months later, he withdrew his decision and Ivica Osim played him in a friendly against Peru on 24 March 2007.
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

1Includes Japanese Super Cup and J.League Championship.

International

Appearances in major competitions

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 Feb 2000Macau, China3–0Won2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2.13 Feb 2000Macau, China3–0Won2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3.9 Jun 2004Saitama, Japan7–0Won2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.9 Jun 2004Saitama, Japan7–0Won2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.24 Jul 2004Chongqing, China4–1Won2004 AFC Asian Cup group stage
6.24 Jul 2004Chongqing, China4–1Won2004 AFC Asian Cup group stage
7.3 Aug 2004Jinan, China4–3Won2004 AFC Asian Cup semifinals
8.7 Aug 2005Daegu, Korea Republic1–0Won2005 East Asian Football Championship
9.10 Feb 2006San Francisco, United States2–3LostFriendly match
10.1 Jun 2007Fukuroi, Japan2–0Won2007 Kirin Cup
11.25 Jul 2007Hanoi, Vietnam2–3Lost2007 AFC Asian Cup semifinals
12.28 Jan 2008Tokyo, Japan3–0WonFriendly Match
13.6 Feb 2008Saitama, Japan4–1Won2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.2 Jun 2008Yokohama, Japan3–0Won2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.14 Jun 2008Bangkok, Thailand3–0Won2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.4 Feb 2009Tokyo, Japan5–1WonFriendly Match
17.8 Oct 2009Shizuoka, Japan6–0Won2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Honours

Club

;Yokohama F. Marinos
;Japan
;Major tournament participations