Miura Chira already had white hair.
In this round of japan J2 league yokohama FC and Fukuoka Hornets, 52-year-old and 41-day Japanese star Chira Miura started for the second time this season, playing 52 minutes and being substituted, which is the first time he has entered the starting lineup after playing Gifu FC on March 23.
Miura not only continued to set new records for the oldest player to play in the J League, but also created the "most cute starting age difference" - Mitsuki Saito was only 17 years old, 35 years younger than Miura Chira, a figure that broke the biggest age difference that Miura played out with 20-year-old goalkeeper Takahashi in 2017.
Chira Miura is a legend of Asian football.
Play with the "sons"
"17-year-olds playing together with 52-year-olds are probably unique in the world." Miura himself felt quite pleased.
In January this year, Yokohama FC signed a one-year contract with Miura Chiryo in the spirit of paying tribute to the legend, but in the first four rounds of the tournament, Miura Chira not only did not have the opportunity to appear, but even did not enter the big list.
It wasn't until March 23 that Miura finally got a chance to start against Gifu FC, knowing that his last start dated back to april 2017 against Machida Zelia.
17-year-old Mitsuki Saito.
After 707 days of his first start, Miura played for 54 minutes, when everyone was marveling at Miura's state, and it was not surprising that his second start would soon come unexpectedly.
Indeed, the coach knows that an advanced age like Miura Chira cannot adapt to the rhythm of a weekly game, but given the veteran "recharge period", he has the ability to persist in more than half-time.
What's even more interesting is that Mitsuki Saito is only 17 years old, and Reiyoshi Yayonaga is only 18 years old, the son of former Japan international Satoro Yasunaga, both of whom are younger than Miura's eldest son, who was born in 1997, and Yasutaka himself was not yet at his peak when Miura Chiryo quit the national team in 2000...
Miura Chiryo, who trains hard.
Miura Chira's Ageless Cheats
Why is it possible to maintain such a good state? Miura himself said very plainly, "I just keep working hard and getting ready to play." ”
But people familiar with Miura know exactly how disciplined he really is.
In his 34-season career journey, he has always adhered to the routine of getting up at 5 a.m. and training for 2 hours a day. In addition, Miura rejects all high-fat, high-calorie foods, as well as alcohol and carbonated beverages, and now his body fat rate is only 9%.
Every winter offseason, Miura would go to Guam for two rounds of self-training, which was earlier than all the other players in the 38 professional teams in the J1 and J2 leagues combined, and in order to ensure the effect, he also personally funded the training team.
Miura Chiryo (second from right) was invited to a tea party marking the 30th anniversary of the Emperor's ascension to the throne.
"Admittedly, his physical functioning is in decline, but he is as disciplined as an ascetic, and as for the personally funded hiring of private trainers and conditioning therapists, this is extremely rare in the J-League..."
Matsuse Gaku, a veteran Japanese sports journalist, views Miura Chira's immortal secret book this way, and Miura Chira's persistence also makes everyone moved.
In 2018, the Japanese media launched a photo album for Miura Chira called "KING KAZU-50, Endless Football Journey", and in the same year Miura Chira also received a Guinness Book of Record certificate for the "world's oldest" professional player.
On February 26 this year, on Miura's 52nd birthday, he was invited to the tea party for the 30th anniversary of the emperor's reign, and only four people in the entire Japanese sports world won the award.
It is worth mentioning that in the Japanese media survey on the quality of Miura for young people under the age of 30, those who have never seen the peak of Miura Chiryo are equally fascinated.
"He's the ideal model in my mind, I want to be 50 years old like him", "I'm not interested in football, but I know Miura Chira." ”
The French coach Trussier, who has been in Japan for many years, said of Miura Chira: "Miura is to Japan, just like Beckenbauer is to Germany, and Platini is to France. ”
Kept kicking until I died
In fact, Miura's matches have been decreasing over the past few years as he has gotten older.
He played a total of 701 minutes in the 2016 season, reduced to 484 minutes in the 2017 season but still scored goals, and only 96 minutes in nine appearances in the 2018 season.
It may seem that this season will be the end of Miura's career, but with more than 100 minutes of two starts, people seem to see new hope in this living fossil, how does Miura himself feel?
"I'm still obsessed with starting, and after a bland 2018, I hope my 2019 will improve."
About when to retire? The player, who is more than half a hundred years old, does not seem to have calmed down and thought carefully, "Retired? I do not know. I don't think I'll ever lose my passion for football, and although many of the players of my time were coaches and club managers, I had no interest in those positions and my favorite identity was still that of a player. ”
"Personally, I want to be able to keep playing until I die, and how I wish one day everyone heard about the death of footballer Chira Miura, not a former footballer..."
Obviously, this is a luxury, Miura Chira said that all he could do was take care of his body as much as possible, play another full 90-minute game, and help Yokohama FC advance to the J1 League... These are all in his plans.