33·Legends
‹ Japan's 33
Shinji Okazaki
Photo: Endoyatto · Public domain · source
Japan · 2011–16

Shinji Okazaki

Icon LM Right-footed
Rating
85
Caps
119
Goals
50
Life
1986
Clubs
Shimizu S-Pulse, 1. FSV Mainz 05, Leicester City
#14
Editorial rank of 33 for Japan
–
The people's rank, live from duel votes

The bicycle kick that beat Newcastle on 14 March 2016 came from a Vardy header across goal, and it put Leicester five points clear with eight games left. Okazaki finished that season a Premier League champion, added the 2011 Asian Cup with Japan, and retired third on his country's scoring list with 50 goals. Career record: 119 caps and 50 goals for Japan; club career at Shimizu S-Pulse, 1. FSV Mainz 05, Leicester City.

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Career record

2005–2010Shimizu S-Pulse
2011–2013VfB Stuttgart
2013–20151. FSV Mainz 05
2015–2019Leicester City
2019–2019Málaga CF
2019–2021Sociedad Deportiva Huesca
2021–2022FC Cartagena
2022–2024Sint-Truidense V.V.
Japan119 caps, 50 goals

Shared the era

Japan legends whose careers overlapped Okazaki's

The world's great LMs

Around Okazaki in the almanac

One rank above: Maya Yoshida at #13.

One rank below: Takefusa Kubo at #15.

Japan's editorial top five: Hidetoshi Nakata · Shinji Kagawa · Keisuke Honda · Makoto Hasebe · Shunsuke Nakamura.