45 Facts About Shunsuke Nakamura

Shunsuke Nakamura is a Japanese former professional footballer.

Shunsuke Nakamura is currently a first-team coach of Yokohama FC.

Shunsuke Nakamura began his professional career with J1 League club Yokohama Marinos in 1997, eventually making 338 league appearances during two spells at the club totalling just over twelve seasons.

In between his spells at Marinos, Shunsuke Nakamura played in Europe with Espanyol, Celtic, and Reggina.

Shunsuke Nakamura has 98 caps and 24 goals for the Japan national football team, including appearances in the FIFA World Cup finals in 2006 and 2010 and winning the AFC Asian Cup in 2000 and 2004; he was named Most Valuable Player of the 2004 competition.

Shunsuke Nakamura appeared in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship as a member of the Japan under-20 team and the 2000 Summer Olympics as a member of the Japan under-23 team.

At age 12 in 1991, Nakamura joined the youth setup of Nissan Motors FC, one of the predecessors of the club known today as Yokohama F Marinos.

However, at that time Shunsuke 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, Shunsuke Nakamura instead decided to enroll at Toko Gakuen High School in Kawasaki, despite the school being a two-and-a-half-hour commute each way.

Shunsuke Nakamura led Toko Gakuen to Japan's national high school football tournament in 1995 and to the tournament final in 1996.

Shunsuke Nakamura finished his rookie season with 31 appearances and 5 goals.

Shunsuke 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 contributed to Shunsuke Nakamura being considered one of the best young players in Japan.

Shunsuke 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.

Shunsuke Nakamura left Marinos partway through the 2002 season to join Reggina, newly promoted to Serie A, after the clubs agreed to a 6-month loan and US$3.5 million transfer fee.

Shunsuke Nakamura had come to the attention of Reggina scouts after an international match against Honduras during the 2002 Kirin Cup in which Shunsuke Nakamura had a standout performance and scored two goals.

Shunsuke Nakamura responded by scoring in three consecutive matches early in the season; in league play, Shunsuke Nakamura finished the season with 32 appearances and tied for the team lead with 7 goals, helping Reggina narrowly avoid relegation.

Shunsuke Nakamura expressed interest in playing in Spain and media reports linked him to La Liga sides Atletico Madrid and Deportivo as well as Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2005.

Shunsuke Nakamura joined Celtic at a time of relative crisis for the club and new manager Strachan.

Nevertheless, Shunsuke Nakamura had an excellent debut and was named Man of the Match, earning a standing ovation from the home Celtic support when he was substituted in the 84th minute.

Shunsuke Nakamura finished his debut season at Celtic with 38 appearances, 6 goals, and 10 assists.

Quite fittingly, later that day Shunsuke Nakamura was recognised by his peers with the Scottish Player of the Year award.

However, as the season went on Shunsuke Nakamura lost his place in the first team, spending significant time on the bench and with most of his appearances being as a substitute.

Shunsuke Nakamura acknowledged that his return to Marinos was largely due to ensuring playing time so that he would be selected and ready for the 2010 World Cup.

Shunsuke Nakamura appeared in 32 of Marinos' 34 league games in his first season back at the club, including 31 starts and 5 goals.

In 2011, Shunsuke Nakamura was appointed captain of Marinos and led the club to its best point total since Marinos last won the league in 2004.

Shunsuke Nakamura made 10 appearances and scored 2 goals in the 2013 Emperor's Cup, which the Marinos won.

However, Shunsuke Nakamura was sidelined with injury late in the season and the Marinos lost three of their final four games, finishing one point behind Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the title race.

Shunsuke Nakamura described Marinos' collapse as the "worst moment" of his career.

On 11 July 2019, Shunsuke Nakamura moved to J2 League club Yokohama FC.

Shunsuke Nakamura announced his retirement from football on 17 October 2022.

In 1999, Shunsuke 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.

Shunsuke 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.

Shunsuke Nakamura made his senior national team debut on 13 February 2000, in an Asian Cup qualifier match against Singapore.

Shunsuke Nakamura scored his first national team goal against Brunei in the very next match on 16 February 2000, in Asian Cup qualifying.

Shunsuke Nakamura 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.

Shunsuke Nakamura believed Nakamura lacked the physique and stamina to play either the center or the left of the midfield, and had a surplus of players at both positions.

Shunsuke Nakamura led Japan to the championship at Asian Cup 2004, where he was named Most Valuable Player, and qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finals.

Shunsuke Nakamura starred for Japan in the 2003 and 2005 Confederations Cup, scoring a total of 4 goals in 5 matches.

Shunsuke Nakamura was suspended for the World Cup qualification match against North Korea on 8 June 2005 that clinched Japan's place in the 2006 Finals, he nonetheless played a key role in the qualifying run and had replaced Hidetoshi Nakata as the main playmaker in Japan's attack during that period.

On 18 January 2023, it was announced that Shunsuke Nakamura would become the first team coach of Yokohama FC ahead of the 2023 season.

Shunsuke Nakamura's second son was born on 15 January 2008 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Shunsuke Nakamura has appeared on the front cover of the Japanese releases of Konami's Winning Eleven video game series in 2001,2005 and 2006.

Shunsuke Nakamura appeared on the front cover of Namco's Football Kingdom Trial Edition in 2004.

Shunsuke Nakamura is the paid promoter of the Yamada electronics chain.

Shunsuke Nakamura has illustrated the precision of his free kicks with novelty performances on television, including knocking ornaments off the top of a wedding cake without affecting the cake itself and striking a ball through the window of a moving bus.