Stuttgart striker Shinji Okazaki has dedicated his goal in a Japan earthquake and tsunami charity match to people who helped him survive a major tremor when he was a child.
The 24-year-old struck the second goal in the national team’s 2-1 win over a J-League select team in a rare all-star event before a sellout crowd of 40,200 at the Nagai Stadium in the western Japanese city of Osaka on Tuesday night.
Okazaki, who moved to the Bundesliga side after Japan lifted a fourth Asian Cup title in January, saw his home damaged in the 1995 quake which killed about 6,400 people in the western port of Kobe and surrounding areas.
“My house was trashed inside. I could not go to school for about two weeks,” said the former Shimizu S-Pulse player, who was eight when the quake hit his hometown of Takarazuka.
With frequent water shortages in the aftermath of the quake, at times pot noodles were the only food available, he said.
“I’m here because I received goods and support from various kinds of people at that time,” Okazaki, a father of two, said. “Now it is my turn to support others.”
Gamba Osaka star Yasuhito Endo slammed in a 20m free-kick in the 15th minute, when CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda was fouled. Okazaki doubled the score for the Blue Samurai on a Honda pass four minutes later.
However, Kazuyoshi Miura, the oldest J-League player at 44, pulled one back for the domestic league side after 82 minutes from a headed pass from former international center back Marcus Tulio Tanaka.
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