Shinji Okazaki

is a Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Biography
Okazaki was born in Takarazuka on April 16, 1986. After graduating from Takigawa Daini High School, he joined J1 League club Shimizu S-Pulse in 2005. He played many matches from 2007. The club won the 2nd place in the 2005, 2010 Emperor's Cup and 2008 J.League Cup. In January 2011, he moved to German Bundesliga club Stuttgart and played in 3 seasons. In 2013, he moved to Mainz. He scored 27 goals in 2 seasons. In 2015, he moved to English Premier League club Leicester City. In  first season, the club won the Premier League champions. He played for the club in 4 seasons. In July 2019, he signed with Spanish Segunda División club Málaga CF. However, Málaga canceled its contract, since the team was unable to register him as his wage demands exceeded its maximum budget spend as permitted by the league. In September 2019, he signed with Segunda División club Huesca. The club won the champions in 2019/20 season and was promoted to La Liga.

In August 2008, Okazaki was selected the Japan U-23 national team at 2008 Summer Olympics and played all 3 matches. On October 9, 2008, he debuted for the Japan national team against United Arab Emirates. After the debut, he played many matches as forward or offensive midfielder. He was selected the Japan for 2010 World Cup. However he lost his position just before 2010 World Cup and he played as substitute in all 4 matches. After the 2010 World Cup, he became a regular player again under new Alberto Zaccheroni. In 2011, he participated 2011 Asian Cup. He played all 6 matches and scored 3 goals, and Japan won the champions. In 2013, he participated 2013 Confederations Cup. He played all 3 matches and scored 2 goal against Italy and Mexico. In 2014, he was selected the Japan for 2014 World Cup. He played all 3 matches and scored a goal against Colombia. His opportunity to play decreased from 2017. He also played at 2018 World Cup and 2019 Copa América. He played 119 games and scored 50 goals for Japan until 2019.

Statistics

|-
|2005||rowspan="6"|Shimizu S-Pulse||rowspan="6"|J1 League||1||0||3||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0
|-
|2006||7||0||3||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||12||0
|-
|2007||21||5||2||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||25||5
|-
|2008||27||10||2||1||5||0||colspan="2"|-||34||11
|-
|2009||34||14||3||2||4||1||colspan="2"|-||41||17
|-
|2010||31||13||4||2||2||1||colspan="2"|-||37||16

|-
|2010/11||rowspan="3"|Stuttgart||rowspan="3"|Bundesliga||12||2||0||0||colspan="2"|-||2||0||14||2
|-
|2011/12||26||7||3||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||29||7
|-
|2012/13||25||1||6||1||colspan="2"|-||11||2||42||4
|-
|2013/14||rowspan="2"|Mainz||rowspan="2"|Bundesliga||33||15||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||35||15
|-
|2014/15||32||12||1||1||colspan="2"|-||2||1||35||14

|-
|2015/16||rowspan="4"|Leicester City||rowspan="4"|Premier League||36||5||2||1||1||0||colspan="2"|-||39||6
|-
|2016/17||30||3||3||0||1||2||7||1||41||6
|-
|2017/18||27||6||3||0||2||1||colspan="2"|-||32||7
|-
|2018/19||21||0||1||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||25||0

|-
|2019/20||rowspan="2"|Huesca||Segunda División||37||12||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||38||12
|-
|2020/21||La Liga||||||||||||||||||||
121||42||16||2||17||5||colspan="2"|-||154||49
128||37||12||2||colspan="2"|-||15||3||155||42
114||14||9||1||7||3||7||1||137||19
37||12||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||38||12
400||105||38||5||24||8||22||4||484||122
|}
Japan National Football Team Database

|-
|2008||4||0
|-
|2009||16||15
|-
|2010||15||3
|-
|2011||14||8
|-
|2012||9||3
|-
|2013||14||7
|-
|2014||13||4
|-
|2015||13||7
|-
|2016||7||2
|-
|2017||5||1
|-
|2018||6||0
|-
|2019||3||0
|-
!Total||119||50
|}

References

Other websites

Category:1986 births
Category:Living people
Category:Footballers from Hyōgo Prefecture
Category:Japan international footballers
Category:Bundesliga players
Category:Premier League players
Category:J1 League players
Category:Leicester City F.C. players
Category:Shimizu S-Pulse players
Category:AFC Asian Cup-winning players
Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players
Category:2014 FIFA World Cup players
Category:2018 FIFA World Cup players
Category:2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Category:Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics