“It gave me a lot of motivation to be able to play in such a great atmosphere.”
Kazuyoshi Miura is given a bunch of red roses on his birthdayGetty ImagesKazuyoshi Miura is adored by millions of fans in JapanGetty ImagesKazuyoshi Miura set a record by playing on his 50th birthdayGetty Images
Miura is still adored by millions in Japan despite his now grey hair and wrinkles.
Miura’s lengthy career began with a move to Brazil at age 15 before making his name in the early 1990s as
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Asia’s best-known footballer, helping to build Japan’s football culture after the professional J-League was launched in 1993.
He blazed a trail for Japanese players when he joined Italy’s Genoa in 1994, although a broken nose on his debut took some of the gloss off his trumpeted arrival.
Fans gave Kazuyoshi Miura a birthday to rememberGetty ImagesKazuyoshi Miura applauds the fans at the final whistleGetty ImagesKazuyoshi Miura reappeared after the match to eat some cakeGetty Images
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 games for Japan but the decision to axe him from the national team’s squad by former coach Takeshi Okada before the country’s first World Cup appearance in 1998 sparked outrage.
Unperturbed, Miura defiantly offered his services for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa — with no apparent hint of irony — at the ripe old age of 43.
Kazuyoshi Miura playing for Japan in 1997 when he was just 30Getty ImagesKazuyoshi Miura is the oldest professional footballer in the worldGetty Images
Okada, in his second spell as coach, politely declined.
Miura finally got his dream to play for Japan in a World Cup at 45 — albeit in the futsal version in Thailand.
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