In a match in the fourth round of the 2022 J2 League season, Yokohama FC, who played at home, defeated Mito Shu 3:2. In the 83rd minute, 44-year-old veteran Shunsuke Nakamura came on as a substitute, at a time when the score was 2-2.
Shortly after Nakamura's appearance, he provided an assist to help teammate Hangki Ogawa score the winning goal with a header. With four consecutive wins, Yokohama FC topped the J2 League table. At the age of 43 years, 8 months and 17 days, Nakamura ranked third in the J2 League.
It has been 25 years since Shunsuke Nakamura debuted as a Sailor from Yokohama in 1997. He won the Best Newcomer Award in the J1 League of Japan in the 1997 season. Two seasons later, he was named to the J1 League Team of the Year.
In 2002, Shunsuke Nakamura made his first stay in the Ocean, joining Serie A promotion team Maregina, becoming the fourth Japanese player to land in the Apennines. From 2005 to 2009, Shunsuke Nakamura played for four seasons for the Soviet Premier League Celtics, and was a meritorious foreign aid for the team. He then returned to the Yokohama Mariners after a season at La Liga Espanyol.
In the summer of 2019, Shunsuke Nakamura joined J2 League team Yokohama FC, and continued to pursue his dreams with 52-year-old Miura Chiryo and 39-year-old Yuta Nan. That season, Yokohama FC was successfully promoted and returned to the J1 League.
On October 27, 2019, the 38th round of the J2 League, Yokohama FC defeated Tokyo Greenland 2-1 at home. Shunsuke Nakamura scored a free kick and scored again after a gap of 743 days. Shunsuke Nakamura, 41 years old, 4 months and 3 days old, also became the second oldest player to score goals in J2 league history, the first being Nakamura Shunsuke's club teammate Miura Chiryo, who recorded 50 years and 14 days.
Shunsuke Nakamura scored 24 goals in 98 appearances for the Japanese national team, helping Japan win two Asian Cups (2000, 2004).
After two seasons in the J-League, Yokohama FC was relegated last season and returned to the J2 League again. The team's veteran 54-year-old Japanese football legend Miura Chiryo also left the team, and Nakamura Shunsuke became the team's oldest player. The youngest player in Yokohama FC this season is Hayabusa Sugita, who was born in 2004 and just turned 18, 26 years younger than Shunsuke Nakamura.
At this age, 44-year-old Shunsuke Nakamura can play at this age, in addition to scientific training and rest, it is also decisive to pay attention to improving diet early on. Before winning his first contract in his career, Nakamura Hated Broccoli and was determined not to stick to it, and later feasted on it. In order to improve the recovery speed of his body and prolong his professional lifespan, Nakamura Shunsuke has strictly controlled his diet since the beginning of his career.
Shunsuke Nakamura, who is about to turn 44 this summer, does not plan to retire lightly, and he also hopes to return to the J1 league with the team.