Masashi Nakayama

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Masashi Nakayama
Personal information
Full name Masashi Nakayama
Date of birth September 23, 1967 (1967-09-23) (age 40)
Place of birth    Okabe, Shizuoka, Japan
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+12 in)
Playing position forward
Club information
Current club Júbilo Iwata
Youth clubs
1983-1986
1986-1990
Fujieda-Higashi H.S.
Tsukuba University
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1990- Yamaha / Jubilo Iwata 402 (206)   
National team2
1992-2003 Japan 53 (21)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 28 January 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 28 January 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Masashi Nakayama (中山 雅史 Nakayama Masashi?, born September 23, 1967) is a professional footballer for Jubilo Iwata of the J. League, the top professional football league in Japan. Born in Shizuoka, Nakayama attended Fujieda Higashi High School and Tsukuba University before he joined Jubilo Iwata of the Japan Football League, a precursor to the J. League, which consisted of company sponsored teams.


Contents

[edit] Career

Playing as a forward, Nakayama made his J. League debut on March 11, 1994. Since that time, he has been an ever-present part of the Jubilo lineup as they have consistently been one of the top teams in the J. League since its inception. With a strikerate of more than a goal every two games throughout his career, Nakayama is the inspirational and talismanic leader for both Jubilo Iwata and the Japanese national team.

At the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, Nakayama scored the only goal of the tournament and the first goal for Japan in the history of the World Cup against Jamaica on June 26, 1998. As of 2003, he has scored 21 goals in 53 appearances for the Japanese national team, which places him 5th all-time among goalscorers for his country.

Nakayama also holds the world record fastest hat-trick at international level. He managed three goals in a FIFA World Cup qualification match against Brunei on 16 February 2000 in only three minutes and three seconds, beating the previous record of Englishman George William Hall set in 1938 (against Ireland) by 27 seconds. This striker becomes a record-holder with other hat-tricks, that he did it in four successive games of J.League, from April 15 to April 29 in 1998. He scored 16 times in these games.

Affectionately known as Gon, Nakayama is a fan favorite among many casual Japanese football fans for his outspoken and humorous nature. Now in the twilight of his career, injuries and age have taken a toll on Nakayama's skills but he still remains a favorite of the Jubilo faithful, as evidenced by the fact that he draws the loudest cheers by far from the home crowd at Yamaha Stadium when his name is announced during warm-ups or when he comes on as a substitute.

[edit] National team

[edit] Honors and awards

[edit] Individual Honors

[edit] Team Honors

[edit] Club Career Stats

Season Team Country Division Apps Goals Team Record
1990-91 Yamaha Flag of Japan Japan 1 13 4 8th / 12
1991-92 Yamaha Flag of Japan Japan 1 18 15 3rd / 12
1992 Yamaha Flag of Japan Japan 2 16 13 ?
1993 Yamaha Flag of Japan Japan 2 18 18 ?
1994 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 12 3 8th / 12
1995 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 45 18 6th / 14
1996 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 27 9 4th / 16
1997 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 27 18 Champions / 17
1998 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 27 36 Runners-up / 18
1999 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 23 6 Champions / 16
2000 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 29 20 4th / 16
2001 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 30 16 Runners-up / 16
2002 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 29 16 Champions / 16
2003 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 12 3 Runners-up / 16
2004 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 19 3 5th / 16
2005 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 29 6 6th / 18
2006 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 13 1 5th / 18
2007 Jubilo Iwata Flag of Japan Japan 1 15 1 9th / 18

[edit] Trivia

  • Nakayama is currently the all time top goal scorer in J. League division 1 with 156 goals.
  • Nakayama appeared on the front cover of the Japanese releases of Konami's Winning Eleven video game series (WE 6 and WE 6: Final Evolution) in 2002 and 2003.
  • He married actress Tomoko Ikuta in 1996, and together they had a daughter. Ikuta did the voice-over for lead actress Lee Young Ae in the Japanese version of the popular South Korean TV series Dae Jang Geum.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Flag of Brazil Dunga
J. League Most Valuable Player
1998
Succeeded by
Flag of Japan Alex
Preceded by
Flag of Cameroon Patrick Mboma
J. League Top Scorer
1998
Succeeded by
Flag of South Korea Hwang Sun-Hong
Preceded by
Flag of South Korea Hwang Sun-Hong
J. League Top Scorer
2000
Succeeded by
Flag of Brazil Will