Tomokazu Myojin (明神 智和,Myōjin Tomokazu, born 24 January 1978) is a Japanese former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder.[2] He played for theJapan national team.
Myojin was born inKobe on 24 January 1978. He joinedJ1 League clubKashiwa Reysol from youth team in 1996. He played many matches as defensive midfielder from first season. He became a regular player under managerAkira Nishino in 1998. In 1999, Reysol won the champions inJ.League Cup and the 3rd place inJ1 League. In 2000, Reysol won the 3rd place inJ1 League for two years in a row and he was selected Best Eleven award. However the club results were sluggish from 2002 and was relegated toJ2 League end of 2005 season.
In 2006, Myojin moved toGamba Osaka which was managed byAkira Nishino. He played as regular player with manyJapan national team player and Gamba won the many title,2007 J.League Cup,2008 and2009 Emperor's Cup. In Asia, Gamba also won the champions in2008 AFC Champions League and the 3rd place in2008 Club World Cup. This is the golden era in the club history and he was one of the central player under manager Nishino. However manager Nishino left Gamba end of 2011 season and the club performance deteriorated soon. In 2012, Gamba finished at the 17th place of 18 clubs and was relegated toJ2 League. Although his opportunity to play decreased from 2013, Gamba won the champions in2013 J2 League and was returned to J1. In 2014, Gamba won all three major title in Japan,J1 League,J.League Cup andEmperor's Cup. He resigned end of 2015 season.
In 2016, Myojin moved toNagoya Grampus.[3] However he could not play many matches. Grampus also finished at the 16th place and was relegated to J2. In 2017, Myojin moved toJ3 League clubNagano Parceiro; after three seasons, he opted to retire at the end of 2019.[4]
