is a former

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He played for Japan national team. His son Shunta Nagai is also a former footballer.

Club career

Nagai was born in Saitama on April 16, 1952. After graduating from high school, he joined Furukawa Electric in 1971. The club won the league champions in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and 1985–86. The club also won 1976 Emperor's Cup,

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and 1986 JSL Cup. He retired in 1988. He played 272 games and scored 63 goals in the league. It is the record for most appearances in

Japan Soccer League ; JSL) was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...

Division 1. In 1976, he was selected Japanese Footballer of the Year awards. He was selected Best Eleven 5 times.

National team career

On August 13, 1971, when Nagai was 19 years old, he debuted for Japan national team against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. He also played at 1972 Summer Olympics qualification in 1971. Although, he did not play for Japan in 1972, he was selected Japan for 1974 World Cup qualification in 1973. He also played at 1974, 1978 Asian Games. In 1980, he was selected Japan for 1980 Summer Olympics qualification, Japan's failure to qualify for

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. This qualification was his last game for Japan. He played 69 games and scored 9 goals for Japan until 1980.Japan National Football Team Database
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Coaching career

After retirement, Nagai became a coach for Furukawa Electric (later ''JEF United Ichihara'') in 1988. In 1989, he became a manager for Japan U-20 national team. In 1992, he returned to JEF United Ichihara and managed until 1993. In 1996, he signed with

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

(JFL) club Fukushima FC and managed in 1 season. In 1998, he signed with JFL club

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as cha ...

. The club joined new league

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

in 1999. In 2001, he moved to

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming th ...

. In 2006, he signed with his local women's league club Urawa Reds Ladies. In 2012, Nagai was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Managerial statistics

Personal honors

*Japanese Footballer of the Year - 1976 * Japan Football Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2012

References

External links

*
Japan National Football Team Database
*

at

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the Sport governing body, governing body responsible for the administration of Association football, football, futsal, beach soccer and Esports, efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the Japan national ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Yoshikazu 1952 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players JEF United Chiba players Japanese football managers J1 League managers J2 League managers JEF United Chiba managers Albirex Niigata managers Yokohama FC managers Footballers at the 1974 Asian Games Footballers at the 1978 Asian Games Men's association football forwards Asian Games competitors for Japan Association football people from Saitama (city) 20th-century Japanese sportsmen