Shunsuke Nakamura

Yokohama Marinos

In 1997, Nakamura chose to sign with J.League Division 1 club Yokohama Marinos, the club whose youth setup he had left only a few years earlier. Nakamura made his début with Marinos on 8 March in a J.League Cup match against Verdy Kawasaki and his league début on 16 April against Gamba Osaka. Nakamura finished his rookie season with 31 appearances and 5 goals. Nakamura had his break-out season the following year in 1998, making 37 appearances and scoring 10 goals; his playmaking ability in creating scoring chances for teammates also contributed to Nakamura being considered one of the best young players in Japan. In 2000, Nakamura had his best season in Yokohama, recording 5 goals and 11 assists in league play, helping Marinos to the first-stage championship; Nakamura was awarded J.League Most Valuable Player for his contributions. The following year, Nakamura made 31 appearances and scored 5 goals in all competitions, including 6 appearances and 2 goals in the 2001 J.League Cup, which the Marinos won. Due to his success, Nakamura became the subject of transfer target rumours from a number of European clubs including Real Madrid and several Lega Calcio sides such as Reggina, Chievo, Perugia, Napoli, Lecce, and Atalanta. Nakamura felt he had to leave Japan and play in Europe to further develop and advance his career, especially after the disappointment of being left off of Japan's 2002 World Cup squad. Nakamura left Marinos partway through the 2002…

Youth national teams

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 1997 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 Japan national team, and included Atsushi Yanagisawa, Junichi Inamoto and Naohiro Takahara. In Sydney, Japan reached the quarterfinal round.

Under Troussier

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 playing a key role in Japan's championship at the 2000 Asian Cup, 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…

A versatile playmaker, with good feet, Nakamura was capable of playing in several midfield positions, including in the centre of the pitch or out wide, although he normally played as an attacking midfielder behind the forwards. A left-footed player, Nakamura was renowned for his creativity and long range passing ability, as well as his accuracy from free kicks, making a name for himself as a set-piece specialist.

Born and raised in Yokohama, Japan, Nakamura began playing football competitively at age 5 with local junior club side Misono FC, where his playmaking abilities already garnered attention from locals. In fifth grade, he was selected for Yokohama's city junior all-star team's tour of the Soviet Union, even though the team was only meant to include sixth graders. At age 12 in 1991, Nakamura joined the youth setup of Nissan Motors F.C., one of the predecessors of the club known today as Yokohama F. Marinos. While training at the youth setup, Nakamura was already honing his dead-ball technique, practising free kicks for an hour every day outside of team practice; his coaches also acknowledged he had good ball skills and technique. However, at that time Nakamura was physically underdeveloped compared to his teammates and struggled to transition to the youth level, and eventually was not chosen for the youth team. Rather than continue on the fringes of Nissan's youth setup, Nakamura instead decided to enroll at Tōkō Gakuen High School in Kawasaki, despite the school being a two-and-a-half-hour commute each way. Nakamura led Tōkō Gakuen to Japan's national high school football tournament in 1995 and to the tournament final in 1996. It was his performance there that earned him a call-up to the Japan under-20 team for the 1996 AFC Youth Championship and subsequently for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. By his graduation from Tōkō Gakuen in 1997, Nakamura had attracted interest…