Image source: J League official social media

　　Despite repeating it again and again, but every time Miura Chiryo makes his appearance today, it will still become news "as usual".

It's the same this time.

　　In a Japanese J1 league game that ended a few days ago, Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Yokohama FC 2-0, and Yokohama suffered a three-game losing streak.

　　And the reason why such an ordinary game was repeatedly mentioned after this night is because there is only one reason-Yokohama veteran Chiryo Miura came off the bench, and at the age of 54 years and 12 days, he once again refreshed his longest appearance in the J-League. Record.

　　Previously, this record was his own record of 53 years, 9 months and 23 days.

In the last round of the J1 League of the 2020 season, Zhiliang Miura came off the bench in the 90th minute, setting the record for the longest appearance in the J1 league at that time.

　　In fact, from the moment Miura Chiryo returned to J1 with the team after 13 years of dormancy, this record is destined to belong to the "league recruit" who is over half a hundred years old.

Image source: Yokohama FC official social media

　　So on September 3, 2020 local time, when the "Old Man Miura" who returned to the J1 League after an absence of nearly 5,000 days, made his debut in the 18th round, he was 53 years old and 210 days old for the first time. Japan’s J1 League has the longest playing record. The previous record holder was 45 years old, 2 months and 1 day Nakayama Masashi.

　　In fact, in the following 2020 season, Zhiliang Miura made three appearances in the league.

And every time he appeared on the field, born in 1967, he set the record for the oldest player in the Japanese J1 League.

　　Time and time again, Miura Zhiliang continued his "myth of immortality."

　　Since ancient times, people have been keen to tell and listen to myths.

So when Miura Zhiliang used his physical body to write the evergreen legends in the real world one after another, bystanders also praised the venue for this 36-year professional player experience and active in the Japanese top professional league in the early years of the game. The "living fossil" applauded.

Japanese media reports on Miura Zhiliang's oldest appearance record

　　"If I can, I want to die as an active player." He even said this in a documentary.

　　So he will strictly control his diet, go to Guam for closed training at his own expense every year, and keep his body fat rate below 10% all year round.

　　His love for football is undoubtedly, and his self-discipline and perseverance are also awe-inspiring, but as a professional player, the final judgment has to fall back to the green field.

　　When the topic comes to this, the style of painting seems to be the opposite of myth.

In fact, it is a fact that Miura Zhiliang, who is over 50 years old, still stays on the field, and his continuous decline in field performance is also visible to the naked eye.

Image source: J League official social media

　　After returning to the J1 League in the 2020 season, Miura Zhiliang played only 4 times in the 34 league rounds that season, with a total of 68 minutes.

Among them, in addition to the first appearance in the 18th round and played 56 minutes, the subsequent three appearances are all coming off the bench at the end of the game, a total of 12 minutes.

　　In this record-breaking battle, Zhiliang Miura only made his debut in the 48th minute of the second half (93rd minute) and played less than two minutes.

　　But even these two minutes are enough to discover that even though he is still in the professional arena, Miura's competitive level can no longer keep up with the rhythm of the top domestic leagues in Japan.

　　The Japanese media reported that a J-League official said that from a competitive point of view, Miura could no longer make much contribution. He could not meet the requirements of the J-League: "No matter how Miura keeps his physical condition, he After all, he is 54 years old, and it makes no sense for him to continue to play in the professional team."

In the football game, Miura Zhiliang's score is only 58

　　After renewing his contract with the team for one year in January this year, Miura Zhiliang said: "I feel that I can still play, and my desire and passion for football continue. I will participate in more games for the team's victory. make a contribution."

　　But "hope" is one thing, reality is another.

After all, the body on which this hope rests is already over half a hundred years old.

He himself admitted in interviews a long time ago: "Sure, it takes longer for me to recover than young players."

　　Therefore, the reason why Miura Zhiliang was able to stay in Japan's top professional league at the age of 50, on the one hand, is that as one of the first idols of the Japanese professional league, he has a very high popularity in the country.

　　"There is a whole generation of professional players, or even two generations, who will say that Miura Zhiliang is their role model when they were young." said a reporter who has followed the Japanese professional league all the year round. "He and the birth and development of professional football in Japan are essentially connected. Together... he got some kind of god-like status, which I guess is similar to Maradona's status in Argentina to a certain extent."

Image source: J League official social media

　　The high popularity brought by it is naturally huge commercial value.

"If the fans know that he will play, there will be 3000 to 4000 more people in the game." A reporter said, and this means that the "Miura Mythology" is enough to bring a lot of commercial benefits to his team.

　　A J-League official once said unceremoniously: “Chiryo Miura is just a mascot, used to play in low-level cup matches and then attract fans.”

　　In addition to his past glorious resume and personal charm, Japan’s “buying” for Miura Zhiliang also has its unique soil.

　　Some people believe that there are other factors beyond the level of sports and the sports market to achieve the achievement of Miura Zhiliang's long career.

　　"In any case, the importance of rank in Japan is unimaginable. When you make a lot of contributions like Miura Zhiliang, it is basically that he wants a contract and someone will send it."

　　In such a cultural context, the "time capital" brought by age accumulation will unknowingly elevate the status of "old people".

One of the manifestations of this is the long-standing system of merits in Japanese corporate culture (the salary increases every year with the age of the employee and the age of the company).

　　Therefore, it is not difficult to find out if you look closely at the team roster. In Yokohama FC alone, there are 54-year-old Miura Chira next to 42-year-old Nanxiongta, 40-year-old Matsui Daisuke, 43-year-old Nakamura Shunsuke .

In the J League, there is also the 41-year-old former Japanese international Shinji Ono. In the J2 League, there are also the 40-year-old Keiji Tamada and the 42-year-old Endo Yasuhito.

Yokohama "Three Olds"

　　This shows that Japanese professional sports also has a more tolerant and open attitude towards senior players.

And on this piece of soil, Miura Zhiliang became the most luxuriant ever-old pine.

　　Of course, having said that, it is also unique to be able to remain in the top professional arena in the country after half a hundred years like Miura Zhiliang.

　　And being able to do this, of course, cannot be attributed to a single independent factor.

All these benefits eventually converged in Miura Zhiliang, and the person involved naturally had a secret.

　　"I still enjoy every moment of playing football, really, I even enjoy it more than when I was in Brazil."

　　In 1982, there was no professional league in Japan, and Miura, with professional dreams, went to Brazil alone.

　　At that time, he was 15 years old.