History
One of the main characters in the Captain Tsubasa manga. Genzo Wakabayashi is the goalkeeper for Nankatsu, HSV of the Bundesliga and the Japanese national team.
His first appearance in the series is as the first great rival of Tsubasa Ozora, to later become great friends and members of the same soccer club. The legend of the character tells us that his quality as a goalkeeper is amazing, his best known feat being that he has never received a goal from outside the area.
Shortly after the formation of the Nankatsu club, from the homonymous city that brings together the best players in the city, Genzo is converted into the captain of the team. But an injury in the prefectural qualification for the national tournament, causes him not to play until the hypothetical final of the national tournament itself. Because of this, he asks Tsubasa to fight to reach that final and play it together. Nankatsu reaches the final and wins the final, proclaiming themselves national champions.
After this tournament, Wakabayashi decides to go to Germany, being very young, to train as a goalkeeper in the lower categories of Hamburger SV. Three years later, already a prominent player in the HSV youth team, the Japanese team arrived in Germany for an international tournament. Genzo reunites with his old comrades and becomes the goalkeeper of the Japanese team, with which he wins the youth tournament.
Later, after having spent another three or four years, the Japanese team tries to qualify for the Youth World Cup, for this they have to face in the qualifying phases of Asia. In them, Genzo, who was experiencing an injury to his wrists, returns to the national team to help the team qualify, succeeding. After qualifying, the Japanese team also prevailed in the sinal phase, becoming winners of the Youth World Cup, with a great performance by Wakabayashi who, in extra time, had to leave because of an injury to his hands . After achieving the world title, HSV is offered a professional contract to play as the starting goalkeeper for his team, something that Wakabayashi accepts but on the condition that he does not have to become a German national, since he wants to compete internationally with the Japanese team.
Later, Wakabayashi continues to play with HSV and with the Japanese team, with which he qualifies for the Olympic Games. In this event, during a match against Germany in the quarterfinals, he is seriously injured, having to be transferred to a hospital for an emergency operation.