Member of the championship "Leicester" Shinji Okazaki

Shinji Okazaki is one of the most famous players of Japanese origin to date. He performs in Europe and has already achieved impressive success, although no one expected it - both from himself and from the club with which he won the trophy. How did the Japanese striker find themselves in the English "Leicester" and became part of the team that made the sensation? Now you will learn the details of Shinji Okazaki's career.

How it all began

Shinji Okazaki is a football player who was not immediately noticed in Europe, as is the case with many talented athletes from other continents. A Japanese at the age of 18 signed his first professional contract with the "Shimizu" club, and immediately began to settle down there, make his way to the base and win the confidence of the coach. In total Okazaki spent 121 matches for the Japanese club, in which he scored 42 goals - not the most impressive result, but it should also be noted that he did not immediately become the central forward - he is still used on the flanks of the attack from time to time. But even such performances attracted the attention of clubs from Europe, and Shinji Okazaki's dream came true - he was invited by the German club "Stuttgart". At that time, Shinji's contract came to an end. For this reason, Stuttgart did not have to pay a cent for it.

Moving to Europe

Shinji Okazaki is a football player who missed stars from the sky in his youth, so switching to Stuttgart at 23 years was a big step for him. And there the striker immediately was able to start playing, and at a fairly good level. For two and a half seasons (in Japan the season ends in winter, unlike Europe, so Shinji's transfer took place in January) he played in 63 games, scoring ten goals. This he drew the attention of another German club - "Mainz", which agreed to pay for the Japanese one and a half million euros. Even then, numerous fans began to collect his photos - Shinji Okazaki became a very famous person in Germany, so his transition to the "Mainz" surprised no one.

Successes in "Mainz"

Unlike Stuttgart, where Okazaki acted as a winger in most cases, Mainz immediately began to use the Japanese in his best position in the central striker. And in just two years that he spent in this club, during sixty-five matches, Shinji scored 28 goals. Thus, he became the most productive Japanese in the history of the Bundesliga - and on it the adventure with the German championship ended. The fact is that despite a decent age (Okazaki at that time was 29 years old), the Japanese striker became interested in English "Leicester", the middle club, which did not particularly claim anything. But he was able to pay for Okazaki a total of ten million euros - an amount that the Mainz could not refuse. As a result, in the summer of 2015, Shinji Okazaki, whose biography was not so impressive and did not promise much success, found himself in England, where he was to perform a miracle together with the new club.

The championship of "Leicester"

To date, Okazaki spent only one season at Leicester, but he was a strong base player there, even if he did not play his best position again. In the center of the attack, "Lester" played a sudden shot Jamie Wardi, and Okazaki acted on the flank, so for 36 matches, he scored only 6 goals. But the most important thing is that it was in the year that Shinji moved to Leicester that the club managed to do something incredible: despite all the predictions, despite the large number of large and powerful opponents such as Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal "And so on, the small club won the championship race. So Okazaki suddenly became the champion of England, and was the second Japanese in the history of football, who was able to obtain a similar title.

National team appearances

In the national team of Japan, for which Okazaki has been performing since 2008, the football player is one of the leaders. To date, with 49 goals scored, he is the best scorer among the current players, and is in third place in the history of the national team in terms of the number of goals scored. Shinji continues his career in the national team, and although he is already 30 years old, he still has chances to climb higher. Perhaps he will be lucky, and he will be the best scorer of the Japanese national team in history? Ahead - qualifying games for the World Cup-2018, as well as the championship itself, which Okazaki still can go - he will be only 32 years old.