Kazuyoshi Miura

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Personal information
Kazuyoshi Miura
Full name	Kazuyoshi Miura
Date of birth	February 26, 1967
Place of birth	Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.77 m
Nickname	Kazu
Position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Yokohama FC
Youth clubs
1973-1979 1979-1982 1982 1982-1986	Jonai F.C. Jonai Jr. H.S. Shizuoka Gakuen H.S. Clube Atlético Juventus
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1986, 1990 1986-1987 1987 1987-1988 1988-1989 1989 1990-1992 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-1998 1999 1999-2000 2001-2005 2005- 2005	Santos Palmeiras Matsubara CRB XV de Jaú Coritiba Yomiuri Soccer Club Verdy Kawasaki Genoa C.F.C. Verdy Kawasaki Croatia Zagreb Kyoto Purple Sanga Vissel Kobe Yokohama FC Sydney FC (on loan)
National team**
1990-2000	Japan	91 (56)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. ** National team caps and goals correct as of March 30, 2006.

Kazuyoshi Miura (三浦知良 Miura Kazuyoshi, born on February 26, 1967), often known simply as Kazu, is a Japanese football (soccer) striker. He has played for the Japanese national team and was the first official recipient of the Asian Player of the Year award in 1994. He is currently with Yokohama FC in the J. League Division 2. Kazu, whose rise to fame in Japan coincided with the launch of the J. League in 1993, was arguably Japan's first superstar in football. He played his last national team match in 2000 and finished with the most career goals in Japanese national team history with 56 goals in 91 matches.

1 Career
2 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Clubs

In 1982 Miura left the Shizuoka Gakuen High School after less than a year, and travelled alone to Brazil at the age of fifteen to become a professional footballer there. He signed with Clube Atlético Juventus, a youth club in São Paulo, and in 1986, Kazu signed his first professional contract with Santos. He played for several Brazilian clubs including Palmeiras and Coritiba until his return to Japan in 1990.

His time in Brazil elevated him to star status and on his return to Japan, he joined the Japan Soccer League side Yomiuri FC, which later spun off from its parent company Yomiuri Shinbun and became Verdy Kawasaki with the launch of the J.League in 1993. With Yomiuri/Kawasaki, Kazu won four consecutive league titles playing alongside fellow Japanese national team regulars Ruy Ramos and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa. Yomiuri won the last two JSL titles in 1991 and 1992 and Verdy Kawasaki won the first two J. League titles in 1993 and 1994. He was named the first J. League Most Valuable Player in 1993 and the first official Asian Footballer of the Year in 1994.

Miura then became the first Japanese footballer to play in Italy, joining Genoa C.F.C. in the 1994-1995 Serie A season. In his Italian stint, he played 21 times and scored just 1 goal, during the Genoa derby against Sampdoria. He returned to Verdy Kawasaki for the 1995 season and played with them until the end of the 1998 season. Kazu made another attempt at playing in Europe with Croatia Zagreb in 1999. He returned to Japan however in the same year, and played with Kyoto Purple Sanga and Vissel Kobe, before eventually signing for Yokohama FC in 2005.

He played with Sydney FC of the A-League on a 2 month loan in late 2005, appearing in league matches and the 2005 FIFA World Club Championship held in Japan. Kazu scored 2 goals in his second A-League match, a 3-2 defeat at league leaders Adelaide United.

[edit] National Team (1990 - 2000)

Debut against Bangladesh
Appearances: 91
Goals: 56

[edit] Honors

[edit] Individual honors

Asian Footballer of the Year: 1993
J-League Most Valuable Player: 1993
J. League Best Eleven: 1993, 1995, 1996
J-League Top Scorer: 1996

[edit] Team honors

1992 Asian Cup (Champions)
1996 Asian Cup

[edit] External links

BOA SORTE KAZU! (Official site)

Preceded by no award	Asian Footballer of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Saeed Owairan
Preceded by no award	J-League Player of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Pereira
Preceded by Masahiro Fukuda	J-League Top Scorer 1996	Succeeded by Patrick Mboma