Kazuyoshi Miura plays on 50th birthday as FC Yokohama claim first day victory

Kazuyoshi Miura became the first 50-year-old to play in Japan's J-League when he celebrated his birthday with a victory on Sunday.

"King Kazu" played 65 minutes as FC Yokohama opened the J2 League season with a 1-0 victory over Matsumoto Yamaga.

He had signed a new deal with the second division side last month and made history on Sunday by becoming the first quinquagenarian to play in the J-League.

His appearance attracted a sellout 13,000 crowd and he received a standing ovation when he came off with 25 minutes remaining.

FC Yokohama were in front from the 16th minute, with Naoki Nomura scoring what proved to be the only goal of the game.

"A win is a nice present," said Miura, who set a new record as the J-League's oldest scorer last year at the age of 49.

"It gave me a lot of motivation to be able to play in such a great atmosphere."

Miura blazed a trail for Japanese players when he moved to Europe in 1994, joining Italian side Genoa on loan, and he later went on to represent Dinamo Zagreb before returning to Japan.

He had earlier spent a number of seasons playing in Brazil for the likes of Palmeiras and Santos, and also had a brief spell on loan in Australia with Sydney FC.