“The valiant fighter” Marcus Túlio Tanaka

Marcus Túlio Tanaka is the former football player of Japan’s national team. Although he showed many brilliant activities on the pitch, he passed through many difficulties.

He was born in Palmeira d'Oeste, São Paulo, in 1981. His farter is a Japanese-Brazilian, and his mother is an Italian-Brazilian. He came to Japan for the first time when he was sixteen years old. Of course, he didn't know Japanese, and he suffered mentally.

He studied Japanese eagerly and had been a leading player on the football team of his senior high school. He joined Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2001 after he graduated, and he launched his career as a professional football player. He became a naturalized as Japanese in 2003 and participated in 2010 FIFA World Cup as a player of Japan’s national team. He won many prizes until his retirement in 2019. He was one of the most dominant players in the football history of Japan.