Japan’s oldest professional footballer Kazuyoshi Miura tallied another record yesterday, with a match-winning goal making him the first player over 50 to score in the J-League.
Nicknamed “King Kazu” for his spirited grit and style, Miura sent a left-footer flying into the goal in the 40th minute, securing Yokohama FC’s 1-0 victory against Thespakusatsu Gunma in Tokyo. “I am always looking for opportunities to score goals. I was feeling particularly good today, and had a hunch that I might score,” Miura said.
The former international celebrated his 50th birthday in February and has since sprinted into footballing history, with several professional appearances, eclipsing the record of former England great Stanley Matthews who was 50 when he turned out for Stoke City against Fulham in 1965.
Though the pin-up looks have been replaced by a few tell-tale wrinkles and greying hair, Miura has signalled his intent to play until he’s 60. Miura shot to fame in the early 1990s as Asia’s best known footballer, helping to put the Japanese game on the map after the professional J-League was launched in 1993.
He blazed a trail for Japanese players when he joined Italy’s Genoa in 1994 and scored 55 goals in 89 games for Japan.

Ancelotti’s delight as Bayern’s rivals stumble
Carlo Ancelotti cautiously admits the Bundesliga title is effectively Bayern Munich’s to lose after they opened a 10-point lead on Saturday as their two closest rivals slipped further behind.
Robert Lewandowski netted twice in a 3-0 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt while second-placed RB Leipzig crashed to a 1-0 defeat at home to Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund lost 2-1 at Hertha Berlin.
Bayern have now hit 28 goals in their last six games, with Lewandowski claiming 10 of them, and the Bavarian giants are on course to collect a fifth straight German league title in Ancelotti’s first season.
“It was a good day for us with good results in other stadiums,” said Ancelotti. “The first half was difficult and Frankfurt were better than us. In all honesty, they didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down at the break. We were better after the break and got our control back. We have a good lead now (in the table), but we must stay focused, there are still a lot of games.”
Despite Ancelotti’s cautious approach and with ten games left, it will take a collapse for Bayern to be denied a fifth title in a row. The German giants are also well-placed to complete a treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup titles. It is nearly four months since Bayern’s last defeat – a 3-2 loss at Rostov in the Champions League on November 23.

Red Bulls benefit from opponent blunder
New York Red Bulls relied on a second own goal in as many games on Saturday night as they stretched their unbeaten streak to 18 straight with a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. After winning their MLS home opener against the Rapids the Red Bulls are 2-0 on the season. They now boast an unbeaten 11-0-7 record in their last 18 games and are one shy of the Major League Soccer record set by Columbus in 2005. Elsewhere, Toronto FC managed to tie host Philadelphia Union 2-2 but the effort might prove costly as they lost Italian playmaker Sebastian Giovinco to a leg injury.