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Bio
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**Thanks to Tiago Bontempo for some graphics
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BioKentaro Sawada played a long and very impressive career, contributing greatly to the teams he played for and piling up some impressive totals in both matches played and goals, for a central defender. But due to the fact that his entire J.League career was played with relatively unimpressive teams, he never really attracted the attention of the sports press. Nevertheless, when he retired at the end of 2003, his wealth of accumulated experience and keen understanding of the game convinced Sanfrecce Hiroshima to ask him to remain with the team as a youth coach Sawada began his career with Kashiwa Reysol, and his contributions were invaluable to helping the team win promotion to the J1 in 1995. He remained with Reysol until 1998, and then moved to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, where he wolud play the remainder of his career. If his JFL statistics with Reysol are included, he had close to 300 appearances over the course of his career, and even in the last few seasons of his career, his strength in the air and keen sense of ball anticipation allowed him to continue recording an unusually large number of goals for a central defender.
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Bio Takayuki Yokoyama was one of the core midfielders for Cerezo Osaka during the 1990s, playing a holding midfield role but getting forward to score a fair number of goals as well. Indeed, he scored a brace in his inaugural appearance on the J.League scoring sheet (a 5-1 victory over Kashiwa Reysol). However, his main claim to fame lies in the fact that he scored the J.League's 4,000th goal. Yokoyama was a hardnosed, water-carrying player in a hardnosed era, but as the close of the century arrived, his value to an increasingly pass-oriented Cerezo reduced his playing time. He eventually attracted an offer yrom Shimizu S-Pulse, where he would spend the rest of his J.League career.
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BioCarlos Cesar Sampaio Campos emerged as a bright young star in his early years with Santos and Corinthians, as well as with the Brazil national team, but it was his long years of steady performance and gentlemanly grace as a J.League star that will be his most lasting legacy. Some would say that he created the mold for a small, speedy, clever and powerful Brazilian defensive midfielder. He may not have been as well known as some of his teammates in the star-studded team with whom he rode to World Cup glory, his star was certainly a bright one in its own right. It was 1998 when Sampaio reached the zenith of his fame. Brazil had just beaten Chile in the World Cup quarterfinals on a goal by a fellow who few of them had heard of before. Around the world many football fans and even journalists were scratching their heads: Who was this Cesar Sampaio? Yes, one expected Ronaldo, Bebeto, Rivaldo or any other one-named Brazilian to score, but this one had two names, and adding his previous score against Scotland had three decisive headers to his name, putting him ahead of Ronaldo in the scoring table! When people found out that he played his club football in Japan, for a club named Yokohama Flugels, they were even more amazed. This quiet, thirty-something Pentecostal father of two had definitely inscribed his name in football history. Born in Sao Paulo on March 31st, 1968, at age 5 he already ran after the ball with the neighborhood kids and in nearby fields. His football career started with the Sao Paulo indoor soccer team, and in the early 80s he went through all the junior categories of Santos FC. When he was 17 years old he debuted in the principal team of Santos, and in 1987 signed his first professional contract and bought his first car. The 90s started auspiciously with the award of the Brazil Championship Player of the Year (the "Golden Ball") in 1990, a feat he repeated in 1993 playing for Palmeiras. In 1994 Sampaio lifted the Brazilian Championship Cup for the second time for Palmeiras, a appropriate farewell to Brazil before beginning his overseas career, in Japan. No stranger to the canary yellow shirt, Sampaio debuted with the principal Brazil team in 1991, played the Copa America in 1993 and 1995, and contributed in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers, though was overlooked by Parreira in favor of Mauro Silva, for the finals in the USA. Sampaio took that as an invitation to move overseas, to perhaps increase his international profile. But instead of choosing Europe, he came to Japan to join the fledgeling Yokohama Flugels. Sampaio was at the heart of Flugels teams throughout the 1990s, and is probably as closely associated with its image as any of the Japanese players who were his teammates for the five seasons through 1998. In over 120 matches he not only provided the steel for the team's defence, but also was the essential link with attack, scoring 13 goals himself and leading the team in assists for several of the seasons that he was with the club. He was at the top of his game in the 1998 World Cup, but the collapse of the Flugels after the 1998 season, so closely on the heels of hios World Cup success, convinced Sampaio to return to Brazil, at least temporarily. In 1999 he returned to Brazil to wear the captain's armband for Palmeiras, and remained there in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, Sampaio also gave his contribution to the Brazil team in some qualifier matches for World Cup 2002. After some time in Europe, where he had the opportunity of playing in a Champions League campaign for Deportivo La Coruna in 2001, he returned briefly to Brazil for three months with the Corinthians. But by January 2002, he seemed to recognise that his talents were beginning to fade, and returned to Japan, where his quiet personality, religious lifestyle and gentlemanly behaviour were most highly appreciated. He was lured back for the 2002 season by Kashiwa Reysol, and after a year in Kashiwa, he moved to Sanfrecce Hiroshima where he would play the remainder of his career. Throughout his professional and international career, and particularly in his eight seasons in the J.League, Cesar Sampaio was one of the most amiable and well-liked players around. Sampaio was always a deeply religious man, and unlike many who label themselves religious, Sampaio always did his utmost to practice what he preaches. His easy-going nature often obscured his intense competitive drive, but he was always a good example and a role model for teammates, and a man who was always willing to spend time with the younger players trying to sharpen their skills. On a Saturday afternoon in June 2004, Sampaio performed in his last J.League match -- his 156th. As he bowed in farewell, the crowd waved Brazilian flags and chanted "Sampaio! Sampaio!" and "Obrigado" (thank you). Sanfrecce manager Takeshi Ono gave perhaps the best summary of his impact on the J.League, noting that "Japanese youngsters can learn from Sampaio. And they can learn even more from him off the field as on the field". Sampaio earned his coaching license, began a coaching career, and has visited Japan many times in the subsequent years. Quite apart from his impressive statistics, Sampaio made an enormous contribution to Japanese football during its early years. He will be remembered as one of the finest gentlemen ever to grace a J.League pitch.
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**Thanks to Tiago Bontempo for some graphics. |
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