Best goal of his career? None.
"If I had scored that goal, it would have been the best goal of my soccer career. But because I didn't score it, I'm still pursuing it."
Masashi Nakayama, 52, is currently on active duty. This Japanese soccer player has set two Guinness World Records, one is the record of consecutive "hat-tricks" (scoring three or more goals in a match) - in 1998, the J-League scored three or more goals in four consecutive matches, a record that was broken by a Croatian player in 2016; the other is the record of the shortest time to make a "hat-trick" in an international match - in 2000, Japan scored three goals in 3 minutes and 15 seconds in the opening match against Brunei Darussalam. The other is the record for the shortest time to score a "hat-trick" in an international match - Japan scored three goals in 3 minutes and 15 seconds in the opening match against Brunei in 2000, a record that still stands today.
In 1998, Japan's first World Cup appearance, Japan lost 0-1 to Argentina and Croatia in the first two matches, and the third match was against Jamaica, also a first-time World Cup participant. The third match was against Jamaica, who also participated in the World Cup for the first time. Japan was down 0-2, and Masashi Nakayama scored the first goal of the World Cup history in the 29th minute of the second half.
"After the Jamaica game, I remember telling Ihara (Masumi) in the shower, "I want to play in the World Cup again. I've always been aiming to get out of Asia and play in the World Cup, but after the World Cup in France, I had a new goal, and that was how to compete with teams from all over the world. If..."
Draw in a breath...
"If I had scored that goal, I probably would have retired by now, because there should be no greater joy than scoring that goal."
The "goal" referred to by Nakayama came six days before he scored Japan's first World Cup goal, on June 20 in Nantes, France, when Japan faced Croatia, the final third-place finisher at the World Cup, in their second group stage match.
In the 34th minute of the first half, with the score at 0-0, Hidetoshi Nakata intercepted the ball at the back of the field, and kept on advancing the ball along the right side of the field to the front half of the field, Nakayama in the middle of the field accelerated into the penalty box immediately, Nakata's pass was just right, and Nakayama took control of the ball with his thighs, and there was a golden opportunity for a 1-on-1 against GK Dra?en Ladi?
However, Nakayama's shot was saved by Dra?en Ladi?s left hand. After missing the goal, Nakayama slapped his hands on the ground and felt very regretful.
"I handled it well until the shot, but I didn't see GK's position. When I look at the image now, if I saw the opponent moving forward, I should have aimed over my head... That said, it was difficult for me to do so with my skills. If I look more closely, I can see that the shot could have been a little more to the right, but my body was facing to the left at the time, so the angle of aiming at the goal was relatively narrow. What else could have been done? I could have shot a little harder, so that even if GK's left hand had touched the ball, it might have slipped into the goal," he said.
"If we had scored that goal, we might have gotten our first World Cup win. The Croatian players were affected by the hot weather that day and were exhausted at the end of the day, so they had a chance to score their first World Cup goal and get their first win...but forget about it".
Unable to get on the scoreboard first, Japan lost 0-1 in the second half to Croatia's Davor Šuker (the World Cup's top point scorer) in the 32nd minute, eliminating them from the group stage after two rounds of the tournament. As the team prepared to return to the dressing room after the match, Nakayama took a seat in the shaded area of the grassy field where he entered the stadium, still remembering the feeling he had 22 years ago.
"I stared at the field and felt that I still had a lot to live up to. The wind was blowing while I thought about it, and it was very cool, and it was a very deep feeling at that time."
In 2000, Masashi Nakayama became the J-League's points leader for the second time, and two years later, at the age of 34, Nakayama was named to the final list of Japan's representatives for the Japan-Korea World Cup, where he took on the world's greatest powers for the second time. However, unlike four years ago when he was a starter, Nakayama only played in the second match of the group stage against Russia.
Roth (name)
He played less than 20 minutes, but Nakayama kept up his usual hard work and went all out on the pitch to score a goal.
"The first time I felt confident that I could stay in Japan was when I scored a goal against Korea as a backup (Note: This was Masashi Nakayama's first goal for Japan in the 1992 Dynasty Cup). Before that game, I was given a chance to play as a reserve against North Korea, but I didn't play well because I wasn't warmed up enough. From then on, I knew that I had to be prepared for any game. But against Russia
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I was running so hard in the warm-up that my friends in the stands were worried that I would be okay in the race if I ran so hard in the warm-up. "I was worried.
Just standing on the pitch, there was a determination to score a goal no matter what.
"Now I'm thinking again about the meaning of 'goals', for me it's not the end, it's the beginning. In addition to goals, missed goals (opportunities) are also included. Every goal leads to a new beginning, and with a goal, you can touch the hearts of many people and make them happy from the bottom of their hearts, and there's nothing else in the world that's happier than scoring a goal," he said.
So you can't draw back yet.
"I hope that I can continue to play the game in the mood of enjoying soccer, no one can guarantee what I can do in the future, what kind of level I can reach, but I believe that I still have a lot of room to grow ...... although the time and the meniscus are gone (laughs)."
The interview ended with Masashi Nakayama's humor.
