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4) Kazuyoshi Miura
Born: 26th February 1967
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Age he played till: 50 (Present)
Career: 1986-Present
Kazuyoshi Miura or King Kazu as he is better known as a legend back home in Japan. Perhaps in Japanese, there is no equivalent word for retirement, in any case, Kazu doesn’t seem to know the word even if there was one in Japanese.
He currently plays for J-League Division 2 team Yokohama FC. At an age where once-upon-a-time footballers are either looking for managerial roles or executive positions behind the desk, Kazu is playing professional football.
In fact, on the 5th of March 2017, Miura became the oldest ever player to feature in a professional match. Kazu started his career in Brazil with Santos.
He returned to Japan in 1990 and joined Japan Soccer League Yomiuri FC, which later became Verdy Kawasaki with the launch of J League in 1993.
With Kawasaki, Kazu won four consecutive league titles. Kazu was named as the most valuable player in J-League in 1993 and was also the last unofficial Asian Footballer of the Year in 1993.
He joined Genoa CFC in the 1994-95 Serie A season. However, he didn’t find much success in his European excursion as he scored just once in his 21 appearances for the club. He returned to Kawasaki for the 1995 season and played with them till 1998.
Also read: Video: 50-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura breaks record as oldest goalscorer yet again
Kazu made another attempt to find success in Europe. He joined Dinamo Zagreb in 1999. However, he returned to Japan soon. He signed for Yokohama FC in 2005. He was 38 years old.
The forward has continued to play for Yokohama, spending 12 years at the club. Kazu didn’t find much success in Europe, but on the world stage, he found some. He scored fourteen times for Japan during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Kazu’s goals helped Japan to qualify for their first-ever FIFA World Cup Finals. Kazu played his last national team match in 2000 and finished with the second-most career goals in Japanese national team history with 55 goals in 89 matches.
He was 33-years-old. Perhaps, this would have been a good time to hang up the boots, but he didn't seize the moment.
