Kazuyoshi Miura, the player who inspired the creation of Oliver Atom

Oliver Atom is an animated character from the historical TV show called Captain Tsubasa. For many people, this character is one of the most beloved, due to the memories of our childhood. The Japanese football player who dreamed of being a legend in this sport and being a FIFA world champion. However, not many know that this character is inspired by the story of a real player, Kazuyoshi Miura.

This player was born in Shizuoka (Japan), in February 1967. At that time, football in Japan was amateurish and for this reason, Miura decided that it was best to emigrate to another country. At the age of 15, he left his studies and went to Brazil, where he began playing as a left winger for Clube Atlético Juventus. Oliver Atom's character tells a similar plot since he also traveled to Brazil to train alongside Roberto and grow professionally.

"I arrived in Brazil at the age of 15, I signed a professional contract at 18 and I played in a Brazilian club, where I learned how a professional should behave and what to do on the pitch, and also how to focus my work as a footballer. All of this took place in Brazil", Miura commented in an interview for FIFA. Although his stay in Brazil helped him grow as a player, statistically, he was not successful. He managed to play in important teams such as Curitiba and Santos (Pelé's team), but in 5 years he only played 32 games and scored 5 goals in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

He decided to return to Japan and signed for Verdy Kawasaki of the Japanese league. In this team, he played as a striker and was champion of the J. League (Japanese football became professional in 1993) in 1993 and 1994. Thanks to his excellent numbers as a scorer (69 goals in 126 games), Genoa of Italy decided to hire him and he became the first Japanese to sign for an Italian team. He was only there for 1 year and returned to Verdy Kawasaki, where he played for 4 more seasons.

With the Japanese national team, his debut was in 1990 and he played for 10 years. In total, he played 89 games and scored 55 goals, he is the second top scorer in Japan. With his country, he was Champion of the Asian Cup in 1992 and the Afro-Asian Cup in 1993. He was even the star of the team during the Asian qualifiers in 1998. He scored 13 goals in 13 games and helped Japan qualify for its first World Cup. Despite that, he was not summoned to the World Cup due to personal problems with the coach.

Despite being 55 years old, Miura is still a football player and is the oldest active player; he even holds the record for being the oldest professional player to score a goal. After playing for Yokohama F.C. for 16 years, he currently plays for Suzuka Point Getters. In total, this player in his 36 seasons as a player, played 845 games and scored 272 goals.

However, the legend that inspired Oliver Atom is still writing the history of him in football...

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