Football Player's Biography 7: Shunsuke Nakamura

Full name	Shunsuke Nakamura
Date of birth	24 June 1978 (1978-06-24) (age 32)
Place of birth	Yokohama, Japan
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Midfielder

Shunsuke Nakamura (中村俊輔 Nakamura Shunsuke^?, born 24 June 1978 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese footballer who currently plays for Yokohama F. Marinos in J. League Division 1. He is one of the most prominent and successful Asian players to have played in Scotland and on 13 September 2006 became the first Japanese player to score in the UEFA Champions League and the second Asian player to do so.^{[citation needed]} He is also well known for his free kick-taking abilities. Asteroid 29986 Shunsuke is also named in his honour.
He has won the Asian Cup in 2000 and 2004 with the Japanese national football team, and was named Most Valuable Player in the 2004 competition. He has also appeared in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, and the 2000 Summer Olympics as a member of the Japanese Under-23 team.
In his first season with Celtic, Nakamura helped the club win the Scottish Premier League and Scottish League Cup. He has scored 23 goals for Japan. His former clubs include Yokohama F. Marinos and Reggina, for whom he scored 38 and 12 goals respectively before moving to Celtic on 25 July 2005 for a fee of around £2.75 million

Club career

Yokohama Marinos (1997-2002)

In 1997, 19-year-old Nakamura joined Yokohama Marinos of J. League Division 1 (later merged with Yokohama Flügels and renamed "Yokohama F. Marinos"), a club whose youth side he had played for when it was known as Nissan Motors FC. He made his début with Marinos on 16 April of that year against Gamba Osaka. Nakamura finished the season with 27 appearances and 5 goals.
In 2000, Nakamura had his best season in Yokohama, recording 5 goals and 11 assists, and winning the J League Most Valuable Player award.
Nakamura left Marinos during the 2002 season to join Reggina of Serie A, after the clubs agreed to a US$3.5 million transfer fee following a 6-month loan period.^[1]

Reggina (2002-2005)

Following the disappointment of being omitted from Japan's final World Cup squad, Nakamura joined Italian club Reggina, newly promoted to Serie A. Expectations for Nakamura were high, as he was given the prestigious number 10 shirt from the start, and he responded by scoring in three consecutive matches early in the season.
However, Nakamura struggled with injuries, appearing in just 18 matches in the 2003-04 season, while the club struggled to avoid relegation all three seasons he played there. After three seasons in Italy, he felt it was time to move on.

Celtic (2005-2009)

Nakamura expressed interest in playing in Spain and media reports linked him to Atlético Madrid and Deportivo La Coruña of La Liga as well as Bundesliga teams Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2005,^[2] but Nakamura ultimately chose to join Scottish Premier League club Celtic.
He made an immediate impact at Celtic, and was named Man of the Match in his début against Dundee United on 6 August 2005.^[3] His creativity, as well as his work ethic and composure under pressure has won praise from teammates, manager Gordon Strachan and Celtic supporters.^[4]^[5]
In his first season with Celtic, Nakamura won his first major club titles, the Scottish Premier League and Scottish League Cup.^[6] On 13 September 2006, he played his début Champions League game against Manchester United at Old Trafford. He scored from a free kick to bring the game level at 2-2, although Celtic eventually lost 3-2. On 14 October 2006, in a league game against Dundee United at Tannadice Nakamura scored the first hat-trick of his Celtic career and won the Man of the Match award. The game ended 4-1 in Celtic's favour. On 21 November 2006, Nakamura scored perhaps the most important goal of his career to date with a 30-yard free-kick against Manchester United at Celtic Park in a crucial Champions League game. The goal resulted in Celtic progressing to the Champions League knockout stage for the first time.^[7] On 26 December 2006, Nakamura chipped the ball over Dundee United's goalkeeper Derek Stillie at Celtic Park (He won the Goal of the Season award by this^[8]). It was Nakamura's performance in the final 20 minutes of the game which allowed Celtic to escape with a point, prompting Gordon Strachan to proclaim him "a genius".

On 25 February 2007, during the Scottish Cup quarter-final between Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Nakamura broke a bone in his left hand after an Inverness player stepped on it. However, Nakamura played in the next game on 3 March against Dunfermline Athletic.^[10] Hoops manager Gordon Strachan insisted that Celtic couldn't play the second leg of the Champions League match against A.C. Milan in the San Siro without him.^[11] He played in both legs of the fixture, the first of which was a 0-0 draw at Celtic Park, with Milan going on to win the tie 1-0 after extra-time at the San Siro.
On 22 April 2007 Celtic won their 41st league championship, and second in a row. The title was won in dramatic fashion by an injury time free-kick from Nakamura in a 2-1 victory against Kilmarnock.^[12] The result left Celtic 13 points clear of Rangers with four matches remaining. Quite fittingly, later that day Nakamura was recognized by his peers by him winning the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association's player of the year award for 2007.^[13] This was followed in May by the Scottish Football Writers' Association player of the year award^[14] and both Players Player of the Year award and the Fans Player of the Year award at Celtic's own end of season awards ceremony. He was also awarded SPL goal of the season for his goal against Dundee Utd.

Nakamura featured little in the first part of Celtic's 2007–08 campaign due to a knee injury which was picked up in a Champions League qualifying match against Spartak Moscow in August 2007 and repeatedly aggravated, including in a match against Motherwell on 27 October 2007,^[15] after which Nakamura sat out for nearly three months. Nakamura returned to play on 12 January 2008, for Celtic's Scottish Cup match against Stirling Albion, in which he scored a goal.^[16]
On 16 April 2008 Nakamura scored his first goal against Glasgow rivals Rangers in a 2-1 victory for Celtic. This goal made him the first ever Japanese player to score in an Old Firm game. He later had a goal bound effort illegally cleared off the line by Carlos Cuéllar in the same match.
On 1 July, it was reported that newly-promoted Serie A side Bologna were interested in acquiring Nakamura's services from Celtic. However, the player has reiterated his desire to see out the remaining years of his contract until he returns to Yokohama F. Marinos to end his career.
On 13 September, Nakamura played his 100th Scottish Premier League match in a 4–2 victory against Motherwell.
On 28 February 2009, he scored a hat trick against St. Mirren in a 7-0 win.

Espanyol (2009-2010)

Many media have speculated that Nakamura returned to his hometown club Yokohama F. Marinos after the four year contract with Celtic. In June 2009, just before a medical checkup in Yokohama, the negotiation broke down due to unknown reasons. On 22 June 2009, it was announced that Nakamura had agreed terms with Spanish Primera Division side Espanyol.^[17] He agreed to join on a two-year contract, subject to a medical examination.^[18] He made his debut with "Los Pericos" in the first league match of the 2009-10 season against Athletic Bilbao, playing the entire game. However, he did not have as much first team action as he wished with the majority of his appearances being as a substitute.
On 1st February 2010, Nakamura told the Spanish press that he was going to stay at the Barcelona-based side. However, on 12th February a statement was released which admitted that both Espanyol and Nakamura himself had decided upon the player's return to Japan.^[19] Nakamura was transferred to Yokohama Marinos on 26th February.

Yokohama F. Marinos (2010-present)

Nakamura became an instant influence at the club, scoring a fantastic goal in his debut. His second and third goals came in August of 2010, both long range efforts, and one a classic free-kick. He has helped Yokohama remain in contention for the title.

National team

Youth national teams (1996-2000)

Nakamura's national team career with Japan started in 1996 as the only high school player selected to the Under-19 team for the Asia Youth Championship. The following year, he was a member of Japan's Under-20 team that finished in the final 8 of the FIFA World Youth Championship.
In 1999, Nakamura was selected a member of Japan's Under-23 team that won all its Asian qualifying matches in the run up to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Nakamura formed a lethal combination in the attacking midfield with Shinji Ono on a team that would form the core of the Japanese national team, and included Atsushi Yanagisawa, Junichi Inamoto and Naohiro Takahara. In Sydney, Japan reached the quarterfinal round.

Under Troussier (2000-02)

Nakamura made his senior national team debut on 13 February 2000, in an Asian Cup qualifier match against Singapore. He scored his first national team goal against Brunei in the very next match on 16 February 2000, also in Asian Cup qualifying.
After helping Japan win Asian Cup 2000, Nakamura appeared to have cemented his place in the national team, having played every match of the tournament. However, his national team career took a sharp turn in a friendly match on 25 March 2001, a humiliating 5-0 loss to France. He did not play for the team led by manager Philippe Troussier again until almost a year later, in a friendly match against Ukraine on 21 March 2002.
Although Nakamura played in four friendly matches leading up to the 2002 World Cup Finals, he was left out of the 23-man squad to the disappointment of fans. In the second to last warm up match for the World Cup against Honduras, he scored two goals, one of them a curling shot made directly from a corner kick.^[20] However, he picked up a knee injury against Honduras and did not play in the final warm up match, a 3-0 loss against Norway, and was ultimately not picked for the World Cup squad.^[21]
Despite Nakamura's talents, Troussier could not find a place in his rigid, defensive-minded system. He believed Nakamura lacked the physique and stamina to play either the center or the left of the midfield, and had a surplus of players at both positions.^[22]

Under Zico (2002-06)

After the World Cup, Troussier resigned as manager of Japan, and was replaced by former Brazil and Kashima Antlers star Zico. The new coach immediately brought the talented player back to the national team, starting Nakamura in his début against Jamaica.
Zico has lauded Nakamura's improvement since 2002, especially his physical development, stating, "Unquestionably, he has improved a great deal since his move to Serie A. He is the soul of our midfield."^[23] Nakamura has flourished under Zico's attacking style and earned his place as the central playmaker. He led Japan to the championship at Asian Cup 2004, where he was named Most Valuable Player, and qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finals.^[24] Nakamura also starred for Japan in the 2003 and 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, scoring a total of 4 goals in 6 matches.
Nakamura was suspended for the World Cup qualification match against North Korea on 8 June 2005 that clinched Japan's place in the 2006 Finals,^[25] he nonetheless played a key role in the qualifying run and has replaced Hidetoshi Nakata as the main playmaker in Japan's attack.

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup Nakamura scored the controversial opening goal in Japan's first game against Australia, which Australia came back to win 3-1.
After the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nakamura retired from international football.^[27]