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kushiro

Okazaki interviews, comments and pictures from the Japanese media

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Shinji's getting a lot of coverage in the Japanese press this morning. Here's a selection:

 

With his 11th goal of the season for Huesca yesterday, Shinji Okazaki became the highest scoring Japanese player in the top two leagues in Spain, overtaking Kenji Fukuda who scored ten for Numancia in 2006/07. His vital diving header after 48 minutes of the first half puts his team in a great position in the fight for automatic promotion against Shinji Kagawa's Real Zaragoza. 'It's going to go right to the wire', Okazaki said. When asked which is his strongest, his left or right foot, he replies, 'My head!'. Six of his last seven goals have been scored with headers. 

 

IMG-1759.jpg

 

It's looking even better in the promotion race for Huesca after last night's results - Zaragoza drew at Tenerife and Almeria lost at Girona, which leaves the table looking like this:

 

Cadiz                  39    69

Huesca               39    64

Zaragoza            39    62

Almeria               39    60

Girona                39    59

Vallecano            39   58

 

Huesca's next game is at already relegated Racing Santander tomorrow night. 

 

By the way, Shinji's not only the highest scoring Japanese player in Spanish football - he also holds the record in the Premier League, and is second only to Kagawa in the Bundesliga. That's quite a European tour.

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2 minutes ago, kushiro said:

And guess who's just crept into a play-off place at just the right time - Leo Ulloa's Rayo Vallecano. He's not playing at the moment - still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury in February.  He got to meet up with Shinji when the teams met earlier in the season - and they might meet again in the play-offs if Huesca don't go straight up. This was Ulloa's twitter post in December after Vallecano had won 2-0 at Huesca.

 

image.png.1233a0c768148c46f09dab058cd1b718.png

 

Can't see a Shinji smile without smiling myself!

 

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1 minute ago, PaulW said:

 

Can't see a Shinji smile without smiling myself!

 

I think Ulloa's out-smiling him for once. But then the result was Huesca 0 Vallecano 2 so Shinji can be forgiven the slightly forced grin.

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On 09/07/2020 at 06:34, kushiro said:

Oh my - this is Captain Tsubasa stuff!  (Japanese Roy of the Rovers).  That goal Unifox21 told you about was a classic Shinji diving header - he's now got the winning goal in two home games on the trot.

 

 

Huesca's rivals both play tonight - Zaragoza at Tenerife and Almeria at Girona. 

 

Bloody hell, though, that header!  

 

 

Tsubasa-style indeed lol (I loved that anime, it was very popular among boys in Poland in the early to mid 90s).

An epic header, shows how fearless Shinji is - one of the reasons why we love him.     

Thanks a lot for these updates @kushiro I didn't know Leo had a long term injury, that explains why I didn't see him in the line ups for a while.

 

It would be mind-blowing if we could saw both of these heroes in the Spanish top tier next season. Apart from catching some random game I've never watched La Liga but this time I'd have at least one good reason to start! 

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12 minutes ago, Chester Dontlie said:

 

Tsubasa-style indeed lol (I loved that anime, it was very popular among boys in Poland in the early to mid 90s).

An epic header, shows how fearless Shinji is - one of the reasons why we love him.     

Thanks a lot for these updates @kushiro I didn't know Leo had a long term injury, that explains why I didn't see him in the line ups for a while.

 

It would be mind-blowing if we could saw both of these heroes in the Spanish top tier next season. Apart from catching some random game I've never watched La Liga but this time I'd have at least one good reason to start! 

Love that Shinji grin when he scores :wub:

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Well, I just saw the second half of Racing (already relegated) vs Huesca. Huesca lost 0 - 1 and it was a terrible game to watch :( Oka had a bad day at the office but his teammates were downright atrocious. It seemed like they were having a contest for how long can you keep the ball to yourself until you lose it... every man for himself the antithesis of what football should be about. Shinji received about two (overhit) passes the whole half. I don't know how much of it was the pressure how much was due to the lack of skills but his teammates simply can't pass, with maybe one or two exceptions. Just shocking all around. Losing to the already relegated team, that surely didnt go well with Huesca hopefuls. Now they have to cross their fingers that Zaragoza will slip...

 

1983166046_2020-07-1118_55_58-RacingSantandervsHuesca.thumb.jpg.18027bfebf95deebcce3ef302e55ff2f.jpg

 

The single highlight of the game was when a certain Camus came on for Santander. I thought he would be no stranger to football... but I was proven wrong :cool:

I'll get my coat :P
 

Edited by Chester Dontlie
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18 minutes ago, Rain King said:

Are they not promoted as it is?

Almeria and Zaragoza both lost! So their victory tonight means they're up. Shinji got the third goal - he's scored in three home games running. 

 

Cadiz        41    69

Huesca     41    67

Almeria     41    63

Girona      41    63

Zaragoza  41    62

 

Looks like Leo Ulloa's Rayo Vallecano are going to fall short of a play-off place. 

 

Edited by kushiro
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Here's a better video of his goal last night. Looks better every time you see it - not just the finish but the way his movement destroys the defender.  (You might have to click the link to see the goal)

 

 

The movement is similar to this Shinji classic - his last goal for Leicester. The defender looks and thinks he's going far post, then the kill...

 

The way he's playing at the moment he looks sharp enough to keep his place in the team in the top league next season.

Edited by kushiro
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1 hour ago, kushiro said:

Here's a better video of his goal last night. Looks better every time you see it - not just the finish but the way his movement destroys the defender.  (You might have to click the link to see the goal)

 

 

The movement is similar to this Shinji classic - his last goal for Leicester. The defender looks and thinks he's going far post, then the kill...

 

The way he's playing at the moment he looks sharp enough to keep his place in the team in the top league next season.

2d4.png

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On 07/07/2020 at 20:11, eblair said:

only just read all these diary posts and they are incredible

 

reading this one, i really want to know did he ever write anything about the fans? i.e. did he realise how much he was appreciated not just by team mates but an entire city, where he now has immortal status

 

 

There's nothing I could find about his relationship with Leicester fans that was very enlightening, though after his last match for us he was saying how moved he was by the reception he got - made him realize how much of an impression he'd made. 

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Is Shinji's promotion with Huesca the first time we can celebrate a post-Leicester achievement of a 2015/16 title winner? Don't think too many would have been celebrating the title wins of Kante and Mahrez with Chelsea and Man City. Who else? Kramaric has done pretty well for himself at Hoffenheim, but then he played so few games in 2015/16 that he didn't even get a medal.

 

Shinji's getting a lot of attention in Japan this weekend - this is what the press reports said:

 

With a brilliant heel-flicked goal, Okazaki added the flower to Huesca's promotion-clinching victory (yep - that's how they say 'put the icing on the cake' here).  It was his 12th goal of the season - extending his record as the highest scoring Japanese player in Spanish football. 'It's a dream come true. When I came here it was my ambition to get into the top league and play against those great teams', Okazaki said, picturing next season's fixtures against the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. The Huesca players had waited for their rivals' results after the game, and when it was confirmed that both Almeria and Shinji Kagawa's Real Zaragoza had lost, the celebrations began. 

IMG-1764.jpg

 

shinji-report.png

 

The headline above reads 'Okazaki Promotion Strike'. That little illustration you can see is worth zooming in on:

 

shinji-illustration.png

 

Huesca might even clinch the title tonight - if they win at Gijon (who have nothing at stake), Cadiz will need at least a draw at home to Albacete (who desperately need points to stay out of the drop zone) to stay top.  If Albacete can get a result they might relegate another of Okazaki's old international teammates - Gaku Shibasaki of Deportivo, the midfielder you might remember from the 2018 World Cup. Deportivo are at home to Fuenlabrada, the team that has to lose for Rayo Vallecano (Leo Ulloa's team) to have any chance of making the promotion play-offs. 

 

One more picture from Friday night:

 

shinji-numancia-2.png

Edited by kushiro
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