Olive and Tom: Did you know? The star of the series was inspired by a real football player… who is still active today!

If you grew up in the 80s, you probably know the animated series Olive and Tom, which follows the exciting journey of Olivier, a very talented young football player. Created in 1983 based on the manga Captain Tsubasa Hosted by Yoichi Takahashi, this iconic program enthralled millions of viewers who were enthralled by these incredible matches where it took very long minutes to cover the pitch and where goals were sometimes scored in completely eccentric ways (like making a human pyramid to put the ball. In the back of the net, yes).

as fansOlive and TomTherefore, 128 episodes probably have no secrets for you who know for sure whether the two heroes will win the trophy at the end of the series. But did you know that the character of Olivier Aton (Tsubasa Ohzora in the original version) was inspired by a real football player? And that this player, the most incredible in history, was still active?

To create your Olivier, Yoichi Takahashi Inspired by legend: Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura. A football player is truly like no other, as he is the dean of this discipline, still on the field… at the age of 57!

Nicknamed King Kazu in reference to King Pele, Kazuyoshi Miura is one of the rare footballers to have played on four different continents. He has thus donned the crampons in South America, most notably for Brazilian club Santos, but has also stood out in Australia (Sydney), Europe (Genoa) and of course Asia, notably in the colors of his home city of Yokohama.

The character of Olivier does not belong to me.

“I’m proud and happy to have inspired the character of Olivier”states Kazuyoshi Miura in the Canal Sports Club thread, seen in the player below. “But this character doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to everyone.”

Kazuyoshi Miura, who holds the record for the oldest professional goalscorer in history (scoring at 55 years and 259 days), currently plays for Japanese fourth division club Atlético Suzuka. And he’s not going to hang up his boots anytime soon. At the microphone of France FootballAn athlete with amazing longevity recently said: “I want to go on until I’m 80.”