On December 2, 2022, a highlight battle in the final round of Group E of the World Cup group stage in Qatar was staged at Khalifa International Stadium, and Japan conceded a goal in the 11th minute of the first half before scoring two goals after the start of the second half to complete the comeback, which allowed Japan to finally beat Spain and Germany to the top spot in Group E to advance to the knockout rounds, and also brought Kaoru Mikasa, who plays for Brighton in the Premier League, to the outside world.
Only 5 minutes after coming off the bench in the second half, Kaoru Mikasa broke through to the bottom line and crossed to assist Bi Tanaka to score the goal to overtake the score, although Kaoru Mikasa's pass was out of the bottom line with the naked eye, but after passing the inspection of the VAR referee, it was confirmed that Kaoru Mikasa was still within the line of the ball at the moment of passing, and this extreme cross has also become one of the classic scenes of the Qatar World Cup.
Kaoru Mikasa, who returned to Brighton since the end of the World Cup, has been on the rise, and in Brighton's 3-3 home draw at Brentford last weekend, Kaoru Mikasa received a long pass from goalkeeper Steele in the 21st minute of the game and completed a brilliant shot to help Brighton equalise.
With this stunning goal, Kaoru Mikasa has scored double-digit goals for the club this season, making him the third Japanese player to score double in his first season in Europe's top five leagues, after Hidetoshi Nakata and Shinji Kagawa.
At the same time, this hanging goal is also Kaoru Mikasa's seventh Premier League goal this season, surpassing his predecessors Shinji Okazaki and Shinji Kagawa to become the most Premier League goals in Japanese football history in a single season.
However, Kaoru Mikasa's hot form did not stop there, in a Premier League seven-round make-up match in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Brighton beat Bournemouth 2-0 away from home, and Kaoru Mikasa assisted Scottish teenager Alex Ferguson in the opening goal in the 28th minute.
After providing assists in this game, Kaoru Mikasa has been directly involved in scoring in five consecutive Premier League rounds, during which Kaoru Mikasa, who contributed 2 goals and 3 assists, set a new record in Brighton's history, and with his outstanding performance this season, Kaoru Mikasa's value has skyrocketed from 3 million euros at the beginning of the season to 22 million euros at present.
[Both a "ball king" and a top student, Kaoru Mikasa's growth path is comparable to Kaihang]
On May 20, 1997, Kaoru Mikasa was born in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, to a sports family, his father was a Japanese track and field athlete, his mother was a volleyball player, and under the influence of his brother, Kaoru Mikasa fell in love with the sport of football and showed extraordinary talent.
At the age of 10, Kaoru Mikasa entered the youth academy of his hometown team Kawasaki Frontale through selection, and with his extraordinary talent, Kaoru Mikata grew step by step from the U10 echelon to the U18 echelon.
Although he devoted all his spare time to his beloved football, Kaoru Mikasa's academic performance did not decline as a result, and after graduating from high school, Kaoru Mikasa did not directly enter the Kawasaki Frontale first team to play in the Japan Professional League, but was admitted to the University of Tsukuba, a prestigious Japanese school, to further improve himself.
Since Japanese football has a career training system and a campus training system, Kaoru Mikasa, who majored in sports science and nutrition during college, honed his skills through competitions between universities, and in order to reach a higher level in breakthrough, Kaoru Mikasa specifically asked Satoshi Furukawa, an associate professor at the University of Tsukuba and former Japanese 110-meter hurdles player, how to improve his explosiveness and physical fitness.
After four years of college growth, Kaoru Mikasa officially entered the first team of Kawasaki Frontale, and in his first season representing the Japanese powerhouse, Kaoru Mikasa handed over a luxurious report card of 18 goals and 12 assists in 37 games, helping Kawasaki Frontale win the Nippon Professional League and Emperor's Cup in the 2020 season, becoming the double champion of domestic competitions that year, and his excellent breakthrough ability convinced a large number of Japanese fans and earned himself the title of "three-goal king".
[Loan to match the first division to adapt to European football, shine after returning to Brighton]
As Kaoru Mikasa shined at Kawasaki Frontale, teams from the top five leagues sent scouts to Japan to scout the potential winger, culminating in bringing Kaoru Mikasa to Europe for a €3 million transfer fee after the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021.
However, since Kaoru Mikasa had only more than a year of professional football experience before joining Brighton, Brighton immediately loaned the newcomer Kaoru Mikata to Biliga promotion to San Giros United to adapt to the rhythm of European football.
Although Kaoru Mikasa failed to stage his dark horse with Brighton last season, the rising Japanese star in the tournament helped St. Giros co-create the "Kaiserslautern myth".
In the 27 games he played for San Giros United last season, Kaoru Mikasa handed over 7 goals and 3 assists, and his outstanding performance up front helped San Giros United win the regular season championship, although he was "overtaken" by Brugge for inexperience in the final playoffs, but San Giros United still qualified for this season's Europa League.
Kaoru Mikasa returned to the Brighton squad last summer thanks to his outstanding performances in the tournament and the World Qualifiers, and although then-manager Porter trusted the attacking combination of Trossard, McAllister and Gross more in attack, Kaoru Mikasa still had an outstanding performance in his limited playing time.
As Dezelby took over Porter's coaching whip, Kaoru Mikasa gradually gained more playing time, and in Brighton's 3-2 away win over Wolves on November 5 last year, Kaoru Mikasa, who started the game, burst out former Barca right-back Semedo against him.
In the case of several successful breakthroughs to Semedo, Kaoru Mikasa provided indirect assists twice, and at the same time scored his first Premier League goal against Semedo in this game, and Mikasa's outstanding performance made Semedo angry, and the latter was sent off directly by the referee for a bad throw.
That match was the main player for Kaoru Mikasa, and with his World Cup shine and Trossard's clash with Dezelby, Kaoru Mikata became Brighton's most powerful attack on the left after the World Cup.
[Breaking Arnold into "Highway 66", Kaoru Mikasa has received the attention of many giants]
If the performance of Blasting Semedo does not prove Kaoru Mikasa's personal ability, the performance in Brighton's home win over Liverpool twice in January this year has made Kaoru Mikata completely prove his strength.
In the face of Liverpool right-back Alexander-Arnold, Mikasa has repeatedly left the former "first right-back" English right-back behind through his excellent breakthrough ability, according to the data media Opta statistics, Mikasa has completed a total of 10 successful passes in three games against Liverpool this season, more than half of which were completed against Alexander-Arnold.
After being tested by Arnold, Kaoru Mikasa became one of the most breakthrough left wingers in the Premier League, and Arnold, wearing No. 66, was nicknamed the "Route 66" of the United Kingdom.
With Kaoru Mikasa's outstanding performance since entering 2023, the Japan international has become Brighton's top scorer this season with 10 goals, and Kaoru Mikasa, who currently has eight assists, is also Brighton's assist leader this season.
Manchester United veteran Paul Parker has already suggested that the Reds should try to bring in Kaoru Mikasa this summer and replace Sancho with the outstanding Japan international.
Premier League leaders Arsenal are also eyeing the in-form Kaoru Mikasa, but the Gunners will also face rivals such as Manchester City and Chelsea.
With Kaoru Mikasa's performance becoming more and more outstanding today, the title of "King of Three Balls" has become worthy of the name, and in time, Kaoru Mikata is expected to become a new generation of "Asian brother".