Masashi Nakayama  

Masashi Nakayama was a professional footballer who played as a forward for various teams in Japan. Born and raised in Shizuoka, he attended Fujieda Higashi High School and Tsukuba University before joining Jubilo Iwata of the Japan Football League (JFL), which later evolved into the J. League. During his career with Jubilo, Nakayama was a crucial member of their lineup and consistently contributed to their success as one of the top teams in the league. He had an impressive strike rate, scoring more than a goal every two games throughout his career. Nakayama's most notable achievement came at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, where he scored the only goal for Japan against Jamaica on June 26th, 1998. This was also the first goal scored by Japan in the history of the World Cup tournament. As of 2009, Nakayama had scored 21 goals in 53 appearances for the Japanese national team, placing him eighth all-time among goalscorers for his country. Nakayama also holds the world record for the fastest hat-trick at international level. He achieved this feat on February 16th, 2000, when he scored three goals in just three minutes and three seconds against Brunei in an AFC Asian Cup qualification match. This broke the previous record set by George William Hall in 1938. Despite injuries and age taking a toll on his skills, Nakayama remained a fan favorite among many casual Japanese football fans due to his outspoken and humorous nature. He drew loud cheers from the home crowd at Yamaha Stadium whenever his name was announced during warm-ups or when he came on as a substitute. On December 4th, 2012, Nakayama announced his retirement from football at the age of 45, citing injuries to both knees as the reason for his decision. He finished his career with an all-time leading score of 157 goals in the JFL and was widely regarded as one of Japan's greatest footballers.