Shunsuke Nakamura: career and achievements in Japanese soccer

Shunsuke Nakamura is one of the most famous soccer players in the world. He was born in the Kanagawa Prefecture in the city of Yokohama in 1978. Since he was young he has always had a knack for athletics, and played other sports in grade school besides soccer. According to him, his love of soccer started at a very young age after seeing the Yokohama professional team play in his hometown (Watt, 2010). He was also part of his junior league soccer team's tour of the Soviet Union, though he was one-year underage in the soccer leagues he occupied up until his teen years (Hurley, 2010). He flourished wherever he played, and fans and scouts began to take note of his ability to create plays while at the same time adapting to the playing style of other Japanese junior All-Stars.

When Nakamura turned twelve, he joined the Nissan FC Junior Youth team as he began his high school years in the town of Kawasaki. He was named the MVP of that team in 1995 and carried his teammates to the championship title the following year (Watt, 2007). He graduated high school in 1997 and immediately signed with the Yokahama Marinos. The first year of his career, he appeared in 27 games and scored 5 goals (Hurley, 2010). This was considered a feat of talent, and as Nakamura's reputation for vision and play making took off, so did his stats and motivation to succeed. Nakamura has played for Reggina as well. He has been a highlight of every team he has played for, scoring many goals and becoming one of the most celebrated Japanese-born soccer players in history.

Upon leaving Yokahama in 2002, Nakamura moved to the Italian Reggina team where expectations for his performance were high. Early in his first season, Nakamura scored three consecutive goals while wearing the number "10" jersey, which further added to his reputation as a playmaker and team talent (Watt, 2010). Nakamura's stint with Reggina was plagued by injury after injury, and the player was unable to really flex his muscle and play as much as he would have liked. He played in only 18 matches during the 2003-2004 season, and felt it was time to part was with Reggina in 2004.

After playing for Italy's Reggina, Nakamura took up a winger position on the Celtic, a team that is part of the Scottish Premiere League. He worked with the team to build a force to be reckoned with, quickly gaining the respect of his coaches and teammates. Here, Nakamura was less injury prone, and able to take full advantage of his talents (Watt, 2010). Though he received a hand and knee injury in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Nakamura was still able to compete in many of the post-season games that Celtic played during those years. Nakamura was also nominated for the Ballon d'or award in 2007, or the "golden ball" award (Hurley, 2010). This is a very prestigious award within the league and game of soccer, and Nakamura has always appreciated this nomination as it shows that even through his injury-prone seasons abroad and at Reggina, he has been able to secure a more than modest amount of appreciation and recognition.

After the 2008 season, Nakamura moved to Espanyol. He had always indicated he wanted to play in Spain, but finally got the chance in the 2009-2010 season. At Espanyol, Nakamura was subject to a two-year contract, pending medical certifications in the pre-season (Hurley, 2010). After a series of injuries and less than spectacular appearances with the team, many including second team and substitute positioning, both the team and Nakamura agreed that he should leave Spain for a team in his home country of Japan. Nakamura only played one full season with Espanyol.

Nakamura now plays with the Yokahama Marinos and has presently found a very good fit with the team. Right away Nakamura scored some very key goals in some of the first games the club played (Watt, 2010). This has led to Nakamura being widely accepted as one of the finest players on the team and in the country itself. He has also gained national and international star appeal and is the pride of the team and the country of Japan. After being embarrassed by not being able to play on the 2002 World Cup Japan team, Nakamura has more than made up for his injury-prone seasons outside of his home country, and a humiliation associated with not being able to make the cut eight years ago.