Premier League winner with Leicester City receives guard of honor in final professional game

38-year-old Japanese forward Shinji Okazaki played his last professional game on Friday night. The one-time Premier League winner played 52 minutes for Sint-Truiden against OH Leuven before being substituted and given a guard of honor by his team-mates and the opposition.

Okazaki ends his career with an Asian Cup win in 2011, a Premier League win in 2016 with Leicester and Asian Footballer of the Year in the same season. As a full Japanese international, he played over 100 times for his country and scored 50 goals. Okazaki, at club level, ends his career with 587 appearances and 128 goals, providing 28 assists.

The forward started his career in Japan and played 121 times in the J League, scoring 42 goals. After first leaving Shimizu S-Pule, he played for Stuttgart and Mainz. After 128 Bundesliga games and 37 goals, he moved to England. At Leicester he scored 19 goals in 137 games as the team won a famous Premier League title. In 2019 he left England and moved to Spain, playing for both SD Huesca and FC Cartagena.

His last club, Sint-Truiden, he moved to in the summer of 2022. He only played 41 games for the club and scored two goals, but he was a big influence for the younger players off the pitch.