“When I was 15 years old, my coach told me I shouldn’t go to a prestigious school for football. When I made my professional debut at the age of 18, I was the 8th forward on the team. I know the fun of one goal overturning all the previous evaluations. I think about scoring a great goal every time I’m on the pitch.”

I am a NORQAINER – my life, my way

 

Shinji Okazaki is a football player from Japan. In 2005, he signed his first professional contract in the J-League with Shimizu S-Pulse before transferring to Stuttgart of the German Bundesliga. While playing for Mainz in 2013, he got double-digit scores for two consecutive years. In 2015, Shinji transferred to the English Premier League Lester City where he contributed to winning the Premier League title. As a representative of Japan, Shinji participated in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010, in Brazil in 2014 and in Russia in 2018. In 2016, he was selected as the best player in the Asian Football Federation. He began playing for Malaga FC in Spain in 2019.

Shinji is a true NORQAINER – his life, his way