Hiroshi Kagawa Recieved the Oldest Member of the Press Corps Award

At 89 years old, Hiroshi Kagawa was the oldest member of the press corps at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, and the Japanese journalist was covering his tenth global finals. His first was in 1974, in West Germany, and he was at the Final at the old Olympiastadion in Munich, a game that inspired him to embark on a globetrotting career covering the beautiful game.

His remarkable journalistic career spans more than six decades. The first story of that career was published in 1951, about Swedish side Helsingborg’s visit to Kyoto. During the years since, he has seen his country evolve into a football powerhouse, even hosting a World Cup finals. It was not easy convincing his countrymen that football was worthwhile though. “Football was very low, behind baseball and even behind rugby,” Kagawa said of post-war Japan.