Famous People in Japan



Miura Kazuyoshi

Date of Birth February 26, 1967
Place of Birth Shizuoka City

Miura Kazuyoshi is a famous professional soccer player. His nickname is "Kazu", so he is called "Kazu" by everyone.

Now he is 31 years old. His height is 176 cm and his weight is 72 kg. His blood type is type A. There are a wife and a son in his family. His hobbies are Mafia research and shopping. His favorite foods are Ojiya, Monjya-yaki, Shizuoka-style zoni (Japanese traditional cuisine) and Italian cuisine. His favorite word is "boa sorte!" ("boa sorte" is Portuguese for "good luck"). He has some cars such as a Porche and a Mercedes-Benz. His favorite sport other than soccer is baseball. His dream is to participate in the World Cup.

He was born as the second son to his father, Naya Nobuo and mother, Yoshiko on February 26, 1967. When he was in elementary school, he began soccer in earnest as a member of the Jonouchi Soccer Club on March, 1973. He attended Shizuoka Gakuen High School for eight months and dropped out in December, 1982. When he was 15 years old, he moved to Brazil alone to join the professional team, "Juventus". His first professional contract was with "Santos FC", the famous soccer club, in February, 1986 and he appeared for the first time in the Kirin Cup held in Japan as a Brazilian professional in May, 1986. After that, he contracted with many famous soccer clubs and was active in those clubs before coming back to Japan.

When he came back to Japan, he signed a contract with the Japan Soccer League "Yomiuri Soccer Club" on July 30, 1990. He got a lot of prizes and became the No.1 soccer player in Japan.

The Japan Professional Soccer League season (J League Suntory Series) began on May 15, 1993. He married Sitara Risako who was model on August 1, 1993. In the final Asian qualifier round of World Cup America, despite Kazu scoring four points to win him the status of leading scorer, the Japan team ranked an overall third place with 2 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws, disqualifying the team for participation in the World Cup finals on October 28, 1993.

He enrolled in "Genoa" of the Italy Serie A under a one-year rental contract on July 28, 1994. He made his mark by scoring a goal as the first Asian in the Serie A on December 4, 1994. (Vs. Sampdoria) He transferred from Genoa to Verdy in July, 1995. In 1996, he took part in the FIFA All star Game (Brazilian Olympic team vs. FIFA World Stars) as the only Asian member among world all-star members and he got many prizes. For example, the '96 J League Leading Scorer Award, the '96 J League Best Eleven Award and the Most Valuable Player of the Month Award for November 1996 from the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). In 1998, he was elected a member of the Japan National team which participated in World Cup in France. But he was removed from the Japanese team by Okada.

References: http://www.kazu-miura.com

This article compliments of Michael Shawback's Internet class at Ryukoku University, Kyoto

Reported by: Iba Kazuo
Data verified by: Sakurai Hidenori
Date of Report: October 1998

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