A few days ago, former Japan international Shunsuke Nakamura, who played for Yokohama FC in the Japanese J2 League, posted that he has decided to officially retire at the end of this season, thus ending his 26-year career, after which he will devote himself to football youth training.
Shunsuke Nakamura was born in 1978, the same age as Frank Lampard, Puyol and Klose, and unlike these who have been retired for many years, he still sticks to the pitch. Nakamura has played for Yokohama Mariners of Japan, Regina of Italy, Scottish Celtic and Espanyol of La Liga, among which during his time with Yokohama Mariners, he won the J-League Player of the Year title twice in 2000 and 2013, the youngest and oldest player winners, respectively, which can be said to be an unprecedented record! He was also named to the league squad several times and was selected for the national team during this period, but did not make it to Trussier's Korea-Japan World Cup squad.
Nakamura has played for Regina Italy since 2002, wearing the number 10 shirt that represents the core of the team, and in three seasons he has made 80 appearances for the team, scoring 11 goals, and is an absolute workhorse of the team. In 2005, he joined the Premier League giants Celtic for a transfer fee of £3.5 million, starting the golden stage of his career, where he won three Scottish Premier League titles, one Scottish FA Cup, one Scottish League Cup, and became the first Japanese player to score in the Champions League. 2007 was his most brilliant year, when he was awarded the Scottish Footballer of the Year, the first Asian player to win such an award in a major European league, and he also won the Premier League Player of the Year, his goal was named the best goal of the season and was named to the Scottish Premier League Team of the Decade of the Year. He has made more than 120 appearances for the team in 4 years and is the absolute leader of the team.
He played briefly for Espanyol in 2009 before returning to Japan to join his parent team, Yokohama Mariners, at the age of 35 when he again won the league Player of the Year at the age of 35, marking the second spring of his football career. Seven seasons later, he joined teams such as Iwata Joy and Yokohama FC, continuing his love of football.
As a player of the Japanese team, he participated in two World Cups in '06 and '10 and had no regrets!