Now his brother trains him: King Kazu Miura on the pitch at the age of 55 at Suzuka Point

The ‘King’ returned to the pitch at the age of 55 and this season Kazuyoshi Miura is already proving he can still hold his own while continuing to set records.

And Miura, aka “King Kazu”, wants to play even more than the 60 minutes played on Sunday in his successful debut with Suzuka Point Getters, a team from the Japan Football League (JFL), the equivalent of the Italian Serie D, coached by his brother Yasutoshi .

Last season he tested the pitch for just a minute with Yokohama FC, in a symbolic appearance.

“I played for a minute last year. But today I played 60 times as much – said Miura after the 0-2 at Rein Meer Aomori FC at the Kakuhiro Group Athletic Stadium -. And I want to play even more ”.

The 55-year-old forward, who scored in the Grifone jersey in the Genoa derby on 4 December 1994, broke the record for the oldest player to play in the JFL, at 55 years and 15 days. The JFL’s previous record as the oldest footballer was 43.

Miura has rewritten football history books over and over again and shows no signs of stopping. The presence of the Japanese veteran attracted an important audience to the stands: 4,620 spectators for a Japanese fourth division match! The highest number of appearances at a Suzuka team match was in 2019, 1309. Number tripled by the “King Kazu” effect.

Fans who saw Miura were not disappointed, as their favorite was in the starting line-up. Although Miura didn’t score goals, he played 60 of the 90 minutes of the game. His teammates scored the two winning goals after the number 11 was substituted.

“It’s fantastic to have won in front of a lot of fans – explained Kazuyoshi after the race -. Playing in a match is the most important thing for an athlete. I appreciate that I have been given a wonderful opportunity. The cheers from the fans are a great motivation for me. I’m very happy”. Many supporters previously went to see him in a training match.

Miura, a former star of the national team of the Rising Sun, is well known as a pioneer of football in Japan. He signed with Suzuka in January after Yokohama FC were relegated to J2 Division from J.League. The Point Getters are based in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture.